Reconfiguring the East St. Corridor In Bates-Hendricks

Indianapolis, Indiana | Fall 2020

Our proposal offered a redefined pedestrian experience on East Street that is
informed by the unique geography, context, and existing conditions of the corridor. As
the main access point through the neighborhood between downtown and Garfield
Park, a re-envisaged East Street is an integral link helping increase neighborhood
health, mobility, and connectedness. Our three-option proposal offers an
efficient and cost-effective strategy to give Bates-Hendricks the neighborhood
corridor it deserves.

A New Emphasis on Multi-Mobility

The need for rethinking East Street is apparent to many who have participated in the planning process. Unfortunately, today, East Street is defined by:

• Antiquated concepts of development which are synonymous with sprawl-type highway and automobile-dominated environments but less responsive to a walkable, livable, sustainable urban core. These patterns are not conducive to
creating a sense of place, high quality of life, or a safe environ for families to raise their children.
• An unbalanced approach to mobility options which gives high priority to industrial truck and car traffic while
relegating buses, bicyclists, and pedestrians to second-string. As a result, pedestrian infrastructure is severely lacking
despite numerous opportunities to connect with existing infrastructure.
• A lack of cohesion, where numerous road widths, street treatments, street elements, and curb cuts are present. A
vast array of disparate urban and suburban style development patterns exist with little consistency which ignores the
special qualities of Bates-Hendricks and the greater Indianapolis community.

Through this plan, we can imagine a robust new vision of East Street that allows residents, workers, and visitors alike a safe and welcoming path allowing Bates-Hendricks to show all it has to offer while solidifying a key connection between the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, future greenways, and Garfield Park

Plan Overview

This proposal offers three options going forward for the neighborhood as it seeks partners and funding for potential implementation. These options include a low-cost/easy-implementation, a mid-cost/more challenging-implementation, and a highest-cost/most-challenging implementation. This strategy will give the neighborhood options for addressing their needs on the time and resources they have while ensuring this vital connection can be brought to life no matter the cost. That being said, a final design intervention may involve flexibility and inclusion of elements of each of these
proposals as suited fit for various segments of East Street. This corridor plan for the East Street in the Bates-Hendricks neighborhood of Indianapolis represents a turning point. As a second generation of investment begins on many properties in the corridor, a new vision is needed to guide a future multi-modal East Street that is safe and welcoming for all residents of the neighborhood. Catalyzed by the construction of the world-class Cultural Trail and redevelopment occurring downtown, Bates-Hendricks needs a clear vision for East Street that helps to sew this neighborhood back into its greater urban fabric while leveraging concurrent infrastructure improvements by the City of Indianapolis and a slew of private investment currently happening in the neighborhood. Maligned by decades of disinvestment, much of Bates-Hendricks is in need for infrastructure repair. As the main access point through the neighborhood between downtown and Garfield Park, a re envisioned East Street is an integral link helping increase neighborhood health, mobility, and connectedness.