Speedway project adds benches, signs, streetlamps between 11th, 13th streets

Josh Duke
The Indianapolis Star

Three phases still remain to transform the rest of Main Street, with no work to occur in May during the Indianapolis 500 schedule of events or during Brickyard 400 week in July, Harris said.

The second phase begins June 1 and will take about two months to complete in an effort to improve the southern end of Main from 10th to 11th streets.

The third phase — which will begin July 26, the day after the Brickyard 400, and last three months — will improve Main from 13th Street to the middle of the 1400 block.

The final phase, scheduled for completion by May 2011, will complete the project with a roundabout where Crawfordsville Road, Main and 16th streets converge.

Other infrastructure improvements will follow, including realignments of 10th and 16th streets and the closing of Georgetown Road between 16th and 25th streets to add a park next to the track.

Some residents questioned the impact that a recent report by the Federal Highway Administration might have on those future infrastructure changes. The report indicated the project would have an “adverse effect” on the historic district in that area.

However, Harris said that finding will not hold up any part of the project, and Larry Heil, who works for the FHA’s Indiana District, clarified the finding.

Heil said in an e-mail: “There is a minor visual change to the Speedway historic district (by) introducing the new roundabout.

“Otherwise, the project should truly enhance the area immediately adjacent to the Speedway and, hopefully, encourage revitalization of the adjoining areas. The 500 may be the only impression that some people experience of Indianapolis, and my hope is that this project will significantly enhance that impression.”