A Place of Sense

Just wanted to formally announce a few items of note. First off, the Pennsy Trail has been paved and is now only awaiting a trailhead (I think) before it would be ready for opening. When I stopped by to take some photos there were already a few travelers using it, so the populace is ready for sure.

Next up, the Audubon Court renovations are complete and the majority of units have already been rented. The finished results are excellent based on what I’ve seen so far. IDO has written up an article on the renovation.

A new transit option is available for the Eastside. The Near Eastside Orbiter (NEO) travels an hourly route between the 10th street corridor, downtown, E.Washington Street, and Irvington. I hope it works out, but I honestly have no idea how it will be received. At the very least it is a good experiment. From the website link:

The Near Eastside Orbiter (NEO) is a circular shuttle which provides transportation for residents of the near eastside community. The shuttle fills the gaps of current Indygo service as a way for individuals to have access to not only the downtown loop, but to also connect them to jobs, shopping and recreational in the neighborhood.

Construction progress is moving along well. We’ve had a bit of rain recently, but I think they are making good time so far. Also, here is my most recent post concerning the trail.

Also, there were a few happy news items relating to other portions of the trail. Stimulus and other funds have been allocated to fix up different portions of the trail, further extending its reach and usefulness. Here’s the latest press release:

A larger write-up is available in this article from Indy Star about all the associated projects that received stimulus funds in Indiana.

Finally, here is the current status of the trail from the Indiana Trails website.

There has been a lot of work going in Irvington in the past year or so. I’ve managed to photograph some of it, figured I would post here to show people that things are progressing along just fine. First on the list is the Pennsy trail.

The Pennsy trail (see original post here) is under construction, I took some construction photos during the nice weather this past week. This phase of construction will link Arlington to Shortridge along the old Pennsylvania railroad line.

Looks like they are stripping the original tracks down a significant amount and re-building the roadway. Should be very good quality and long lasting pathway. Judging from how deep my footprints went, they need to add and compact a bit more soil before they are done.

I was very happy to be able to get to the old rail bridge across Shadeland. This bridge is essential to the success of the trail, because there would be no way to get across a limited access freeway like Shadeland otherwise. A big benefit of this project is that the no-man’s-land in between Shadeland and I-465 is now accessible by pedestrians. Thus, I can now ride my bike to Applebee’s or K-Mart without risking a busy street crossing.

Soon, the trail will be extended to Ritter on the West and underneath the I-465 highway on the East. With a bit of luck, the state will continue its plans to extend to trail to Cumberland, Greenfield, and eventually all the way to Ohio. But the longest journeys start with a single step.

(borrowed from the presentation by Storrow Kinsella)

Lately my neighborhood of Irvington has been blessed with some good news (groundbreaking news from Indy Star, groundbreaking news from IDO). The plans for the Pennsylvania RR rail trail are being acted on and the work has begun. In short, this is an old railroad line that is being converted to public space, principally a walk/bike trail.

The defunct Pennsylvania Railroad line through Irvington was preserved for just this reason, and I believe it has a lot of support in the community. The latest “Pennsy Trail” presentation sounds pretty exciting, and the trail head will only be 2 blocks from the icehouse.

The full plans include a continuous pedestrian trail from one end of the state to the other (and hopefully continuing beyond those borders as well – the National Road Heritage Trail). There are additional resources at Indy Greenways host site, Indiana Trails host site, the Pennsy Trails arts fair site, and the trail designer host site.

The fun parts include the use of old over-passes and under-passes, at-grade crossings, insignia and logos, but the best part is the alterations to Ritter Ave (see pic above) and the recovery of the old commercial district in Irvington south of Washington Street.

This area along Bonna St used to be very important because of the importance of the railroad and the passengers riding it to the city every day. After the installation of streetcars and increasing use of automobiles, Washington St became the most trafficked commercial area. I’m hoping that the trail will bring people to Bonna St and make these old buildings viable again.

In addition to the commercial buildings, there are some fabulous old residences nearby. The town’s original founders and their relatives built some very impressive structures and some Irvingtonians have lovingly restored them. The one below is known as the Julian House and is an Italianate that will eventually be very close to the trail.

Then there are the many houses that have not been restored and are currently subdivided. Obviously the hope here is that someone will take the initiative to restore these. Now before you scream “gentrification kills diversity” let me point out that the beauty of Irvington is that these mansions are located directly next to very modest homes, duplexes, and apartments. There will always be affordable housing in the neighborhood, so fear not!