Car wash operator along 38th braces for IndyGo construction
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Now that a portion of 38th Street between is closed between Emerson and Keystone avenues, the detours have begun for construction of IndyGo’s Purple Line bus route.
“My customers, they’ll pull up, they know where I’m at, but just random cars pulling up? It’s kind of slow,” Carl Coleman said.
Coleman runs his own car wash, which is set up near the corner of North Emerson Ave and East Street Street. Business has dried up since the construction began.
“I was running out of water, every day, now I don’t even run out of water. I do probably a half a tank a day now,” Coleman said.
IndyGo says the project is a short-term inconvenience for long-term prosperity. Once completed, the entire Purple Line rapid-transit bus route will connect the Marion County city of Lawrence with downtown Indianapolis.
The 15.2-mile project will upgrade parts of IndyGo Route 39 along the corridors of East 38th Street and North Post Road. The Purple Line will run along Capitol Street, Meridian Street, 38th Street and Post Road, and will stop at the Ivy Tech Community College campus in Lawrence
Larger, electric run buses will replace the current fleet along the route.
The $188 million project includes a bus-only lane, real-time displays of arrival times, about 10 miles of sidewalks, more than 350 Americans with Disabilities Act curb ramps, and new street paving. Phases of the construction will be spread out across six different construction areas along the Purple Line to minimize the impact on transportation.
“This is also a huge infrastructure project for a community that hasn’t seen the likes of the upgrades and improvements we’re bringing in many decades,” said Carrie Black, spokesperson for IndyGo.
Those improvements include new sidewalks, bike paths, and the smoothing out of potholes. “This is storm-sewer separation project, eliminate some of the pooling and puddling that happens when there is a heavy rain,” Black said.
The Purple Line has construction liaisons who are working with businesses and residents to assure people can access their properties during the project.
Right now, IndyGo has a Red Line rapid-transit bus route that runs from 66th Street and College Avenue, through downtown, and south to the University of Indianapolis.