Indianapolis a good city to commute in? (Lafayette, Fishers: neighborhood, contractors)

[bertrandandjules]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

Never said it had to be a mile wide river like the Ohio to be a major river.

Would you consider the Scioto River in Columbus to be a major river too? It certainly isn't any smaller than the White River.

Virtually no one outside of Indiana or Ohio has heard of either of these rivers.

[indy18]

Having lived in both, I can say that Indianapolis is a piece of cake to drive in compared to Louisville, despite Indy being a much larger area.

[Broadrippleguy]

Originally Posted by indy18

Having lived in both, I can say that Indianapolis is a piece of cake to drive in compared to Louisville, despite Indy being a much larger area.

well no pun intended but it sure in hell doesnt help Louisville only has 3 bridges to cross the Ohio River.
US 31/I65 and I-64.
And oh boy when the sherman Minton bridge shut down that sure was a nightmare.
It just shows Louisville needs to get its act together and build the Ohio Bridges project and get it done. Otherwise Louisville will be held back cause the metro is basically split in 2 by the Ohio River and that just doesnt work.

[indy18]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

well no pun intended but it sure in hell doesnt help Louisville only has 3 bridges to cross the Ohio River.
US 31/I65 and I-64.
And oh boy when the sherman Minton bridge shut down that sure was a nightmare.
It just shows Louisville needs to get its act together and build the Ohio Bridges project and get it done. Otherwise Louisville will be held back cause the metro is basically split in 2 by the Ohio River and that just doesnt work.

Yes, you're exactly right. Louisville has a pathetic infrastructure for a metro area of 1 million +. Its lack of bridges clogs up the metro area and holds back growth. When the Minton was shut down, Louisville had just one functioning interstate bridge remaining. The closing of one bridge should never put a metro area in such a dire predicament. Louisville should have built new bridges 30+ years ago.

This is a perfect example of why people have such little faith in government. Building bridges is something that only a government can do, yet those in power have completely failed the Louisville metro area with this. Sad.

[Broadrippleguy]

Originally Posted by indy18

Yes, you're exactly right. Louisville has a pathetic infrastructure for a metro area of 1 million +. Its lack of bridges clogs up the metro area and holds back growth. When the Minton was shut down, Louisville had just one functioning interstate bridge remaining. The closing of one bridge should never put a metro area in such a dire predicament. Louisville should have built new bridges 30+ years ago.

This is a perfect example of why people have such little faith in government. Building bridges is something that only a government can do, yet those in power have completely failed the Louisville metro area with this. Sad.

couldnt of said it better myself.

[850_branded]

Much of the Louisville traffic congestion would be eased if the 265 loop was completed on the northeast side of the metro...but it's my understanding the residents of the communities on both the Indiana and KY sides of the river in that corner fought and havr neen fighting tooth-and-nail to prevent any interstate highway from being built through there—not unlike the Indy residents in the '50s or so fighting construction of I-69 through the northeast part of the city towards downtown...the road that currently exists as Fall Creek Parkway/Binford Blvd.

Someone with more knowledge care to chime in?

[indy18]

Originally Posted by 850_branded

Much of the Louisville traffic congestion would be eased if the 265 loop was completed on the northeast side of the metro...but it's my understanding the residents of the communities on both the Indiana and KY sides of the river in that corner fought and havr neen fighting tooth-and-nail to prevent any interstate highway from being built through there—not unlike the Indy residents in the '50s or so fighting construction of I-69 through the northeast part of the city towards downtown...the road that currently exists as Fall Creek Parkway/Binford Blvd.

Someone with more knowledge care to chime in?

I think that's the gist of it. It's a shame that a few wealthy citizens can ruin the traffic flow of an entire metropolitan area.

I think that Indy is overall a very easy city to drive in, but the failure to extend 69 all the way downtown via Binford Blvd was a big mistake. There's no direct interstate access from downtown to the most populated area of the metro area. As another poster here said one time, there should be direct interstate access from Fishers to downtown Indy, and then from downtown Indy to Bloomington. Indy to Bloomington has to be one of the most heavily traveled routes in the state and it's a shame that it's still not an interstate.

[ischyros]

There needs to be another bridge across the river between Fishers and Carmel. In the 5 miles between 96th St and 146th St, there is only one bridge between two cities of almost 80,000 people each. And from 146th St north it's another 3 or so miles to SR 32 to find yet another bridge in Noblesville. That's why those roads are so congested, especially 146th, 116th, and 96th. They're the only way to get across the river. I heard the idea of a bridge at 126th St thrown about as that is really the only place to do it. Conner Prairie in Fishers and a golf course/neighborhood in Carmel are in the way at 131st. The only thing in the way at 126th St is woods on the Fishers side and River Road Park on the Carmel side. Then again I've also thought for years that Allisonville Rd needed to be wider than 2 lanes all the way to 146th St and that's never mentioned so what do I know.

[Chicago76]

Originally Posted by indy18

I think that's the gist of it. It's a shame that a few wealthy citizens can ruin the traffic flow of an entire metropolitan area.

I think that Indy is overall a very easy city to drive in, but the failure to extend 69 all the way downtown via Binford Blvd was a big mistake. There's no direct interstate access from downtown to the most populated area of the metro area. As another poster here said one time, there should be direct interstate access from Fishers to downtown Indy, and then from downtown Indy to Bloomington. Indy to Bloomington has to be one of the most heavily traveled routes in the state and it's a shame that it's still not an interstate.

Couldn't disagree more. A big problem with the interstate highway system is that they severely underestimated the impact that these projects would have on destroying urban neighborhoods, which then lead to more people leaving and moving to the burbs and greater need for additional highway lanes to support more people.

In many cases, large chunks of urban land were termed "blighted" when that really wasn't the case as a way of selling highway encroachment.

Indy's best shot at developing a reasonably dense, sustainable, and contiguous part of the metro rests in "Midtown"+ Herron Morton + Fall Creek Place + Old Northside. There is a real opportunity for those areas to bleed together and form a real sense of place. That is a unique asset to the region. The development supported by the interstate highway system in places like Fishers, Greenwood, Avon, Noblesville, etc...not so much. You can recreate that atmosphere on any undeveloped land anywhere.

This ignores the fact that an interstate on that corridor would have lead to a tremendous loss of urban greenspace along Fall Creek.

[IndyBound75]

Quick question: What is the total square miles from one end of downtown to the other?