State seeks input on how to improve I-65, I-70 downtown

(MIRROR INDY) — The Indiana Department of Transportation wants your input on how to rebuild Interstates 65 and 70 downtown, saying they are approaching the end of their service life.

When the Indianapolis portions of I-65 and I-70 were originally built, the interstates split neighborhoods in the path of the inner loop routes. About 8,000 buildings were demolished for the projects, displacing about 17,000 residents, according to the Oct. 15, 1976, edition of the Indianapolis Star.

Little consideration was given to how the projects would affect those neighborhoods. The projects were designed in the 1960s and predated the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental impact assessments for major federal actions. That includes how a proposed project would affect the people living near it.

Now, as INDOT plans how to modernize the roadways, it wants to hear how residents think it should approach the job. I-70, for instance, cuts through the Drexel Gardens neighborhood, separating residential areas from Stout Field and the industrial areas surrounding it. 

The agency is taking public comments through its Pro Planning and Environment Linkages program, or ProPEL Indy, at a community meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 15 at Drexel Gardens Christian Church, 2200 Beulah Ave.

For more information, head to the ProPEL Indy website. 

Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @heyEnriqueSaenz