INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Aug 18th 2015) — Every year dozens of people are killed and hundreds more injured in auto pedestrian accidents in Indianapolis.
On Tuesday a local group called Health by Design released a list of the city’s 10 worst spots for pedestrian.
“When a pedestrian clashes with a vehicle its usually not good for the pedestrian,” said Brenda Havens with Walk Urban Indy.
With a clipboard in hand, Brenda and a small group of others tested the safety of one top 10 trouble spot around 30th and MLK.
“We want people to walk more, but in order to do that they have to have somewhere safe to walk,” said Health by Design’s Kim Irwin.
In some cases fixing trouble spots is easy, it just means repairing crosswalks or re-timing pedestrian signals, but in others spot where sidewalks need to be repaired or replaced, the fix is more long term and may require public money.
“Maybe surprising, maybe not, there are literally hundreds of things that can improve pedestrian safety,” said Irwin.
Kim says based on what flaws are identified, recommendations will be made to city leaders and solutions will be prioritized.
“We don`t have enough money to build every sidewalk we need. We don`t have money to paint every crosswalk we need,” said Irwin. “So the question is how do we choose and where do we do that.”
Over the last 5 years, 82 people have died after being hit by cars.
The 10 worst areas (based on number of crashes involving pedestrians from 2010 to 2014) in no particular order are:
• West 86th Street between Michigan and Harcourt Roads, including portions of Michigan, Township Line and Harcourt roads
• West 34th and 38th Streets, from Moller Road west to 465, including portions of High School and Moller roads
• West 38th Street between Boulevard Place and Meridian Street
• East 38th Street from the State Fairgrounds to Sherman Avenue
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street from 25th to 30th streets
• Meridian and Illinois Streets from 14th to 34th streets, including extended portions of 16th, 28th, 29th, 30th and 32nd streets
• West 10th Street from Tibbs Avenue to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street
• East 10th Street from Woodruff Place to Arlington Avenue
• West Washington St. from 465 to Holt Road, including portions of Oliver Avenue and Morris Street
• East Washington Street from Willard Park to Arlington Avenue, including portions of Michigan, New York and Rural streets and Emerson Avenue
