{"id":17212,"date":"2023-08-02T17:31:17","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T00:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/?p=17212"},"modified":"2023-10-18T19:58:34","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T02:58:34","slug":"making-w-washington-bikeable-to-the-airport-with-state-senator-andrea-hunley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2023\/08\/02\/making-w-washington-bikeable-to-the-airport-with-state-senator-andrea-hunley\/","title":{"rendered":"Making W. Washington bikeable to the airport with State Senator, Andrea Hunley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indiana State Senator, District 46, Andrea Hunley, and I had a great meeting today about W. Washington St. Her jurisdiction covers the part of that road that I am building into my book, \u201cNBG Blueprint – Making the National Bicycle Greenway Real\u201d<\/a><\/strong>. As a chapter, I am calling it \u201cThe most Important Road in America\u201d. This is so because the part of West Washington we are looking to improve connects the most bikeable downtown in the world to the top rated airport in North America. Also referred to as US 40, from 1834 to 1869, as the National road it sent almost 500,000 pioneers to the West in search of fortune and a better way of living.<\/p>\n

Andrea and I began by talking about the contraflow that I foresee along the part of West Washington that was rerouted in the early 1980s around the south side of what would become the Indianapolis Zoo. A 6-lane boulevard at this point, it is bordered by the animal compound on one side and a lawn enclosed sidewalk on the other. An easily upgraded piece of real estate, bordered by mature shrubbery that blocks the view of the adjacent rail tracks, it travels uninterrupted for one mile from the White River to Harding Street. With no driveways or intersections to contend with Andrea wants to soon try it out for herself!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And just before it reaches the White River, if coming from the west, we can use the underpass that doubles back under the road and then over to the old 40-acre GM Stamping plant. What\u2019s even better is the fact that Andrea has regular meetings with the Elanco people who are developing the old factory site. She told me they recently approached her about ways to better connect themselves to the bike infrastructure here. She was excited that she would have something to bring to them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At which point I reminded her of the Cultural Trail extension that is coming. Per the podcast I recently did with ICT, CEO, Karen Haley<\/a><\/strong>, they are building a bike bridge that will cross the White River from the old Diamond Chain site opposite this new development. She will, as well, take this up with the Cultural Trail people who she regularly meets with also.<\/p>\n

We then talked about the Indy Go Blue line, which is now slated to run, 1.8 miles from Harding to Holt Road. This, of course, is a scaled back version of what they changed their mind about last December. Instead of going all the way to the airport, now, it reaches only to Holt road.<\/p>\n

In some ways this is a mixed blessing. As she and I discussed, there is a middle turn lane on West Washington with two lanes of traffic on either side. If it\u2019s upgraded by the bus people, it seems doubtful they will make any provisions for the bike community. I suggested to her that we scrap the whole rapid transit bus idea. Get rid of the middle turn lane and use that extra real estate for bike lanes on either side of the road all the way to the airport! She will find out what the Indy Go people have in mind, and we will go from there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Finally, I broached the idea of having a group ride on West Washington, with political officials and other luminaries as a way to bring attention to how treacherous it is at present. As a group of say 10 people, cars will yield accordingly. Toward that end, we can even get the services of Indianapolis skateboard journalist, Thomas Breedlove, whose work is very high-quality and has said he will film our ride. I was hoping for a September timeline for that when the weather cools down a little bit.<\/p>\n

All in all, Andrea is a real bullets cyclist. She was much looking forward to her ride with bike publicist and Mayor\u2019s Bike Advisory Committee member, Connie Schumacker. Soon, they are scheduled to ride the Fall Creek Parkway. She was excited about that. And I\u2019m excited that she sees the genuine need to improve West Washington a.k.a. US 40 aka, the National Road that Thomas Jefferson signed into law in 1806!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indiana State Senator, District 46, Andrea Hunley, and I had a great meeting today about W. Washington St. Her jurisdiction… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3VuuR-4tC","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15514,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2020\/08\/06\/victory-field-to-the-airport-greenway\/","url_meta":{"origin":17212,"position":0},"title":"Victory Field to the Airport Greenway","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"August 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 A greenway from Victory Field, the minor league baseball home of the Indianapolis Indians, to the Indianapolis Airport, 13 miles away, would become the most important Greenway in the world. In making the top rated airport in North America accessible to bike\u00a0 travelers, the old National Road,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Indianapolis"","block_context":{"text":"Indianapolis","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/indianapolis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/WhiteRiverStateParkRRBridge.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/WhiteRiverStateParkRRBridge.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/WhiteRiverStateParkRRBridge.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/WhiteRiverStateParkRRBridge.png?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/WhiteRiverStateParkRRBridge.png?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/WhiteRiverStateParkRRBridge.png?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16784,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2022\/08\/22\/nbg-strategy-aug-2022-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":17212,"position":1},"title":"NBG Strategy – Bring USA to Indy Bike Week 2025","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"August 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By combining the work our NBG Scouts did from 1998 to 2010, with the GPS input that came our way when we had interactive maps at our site (2007-2009) and then the crowd sourced bike route data that Google now has on line, in 2014, we put the San Francisco\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Screen-Shot-2022-08-22-at-10.30.01-AM.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Screen-Shot-2022-08-22-at-10.30.01-AM.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Screen-Shot-2022-08-22-at-10.30.01-AM.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15233,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2020\/01\/25\/2020-mayors-ride-to-end-first-gateway-to-the-west\/","url_meta":{"origin":17212,"position":2},"title":"2020 Mayors’ Ride to end at first Gateway to the West","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"January 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Our 17th annual National Mayors' Ride will take place on the bridge that replaced the first gateway to the West (before St Louis), the National Road covered bridge. Dismantled in 1902, here is a rare picture of it from when photography was brand new. Gone from what was the genuine\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Wriver_Bridge-with-Type-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Wriver_Bridge-with-Type-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Wriver_Bridge-with-Type-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16251,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2021\/10\/19\/indianapolis-long-has-led-the-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":17212,"position":3},"title":"Indianapolis Long Has Led the Way","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"October 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This is how my chapter about Indianapolis as being home to the NBG ends.\u00a0 ------ In sum, with a transportation legacy that opened the frontier where there were no roads, with its National Road Wood Covered Bridge over the White River of 1834, Indianapolis set in place the momentum that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Indianapolis"","block_context":{"text":"Indianapolis","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/indianapolis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-19-at-8.43.13-AM.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16692,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2022\/07\/13\/nbg-direction-posted-at-bikeroute-com\/","url_meta":{"origin":17212,"position":4},"title":"NBG Direction (posted at BikeRoute.com)","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"July 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Celebrating Cycling in Cities Where People Live By combining the work our NBG Scouts did from 1998 to 2010, with the GPS input that came our way when we had interactive maps at our site (2007-2009) and then the crowd sourced bike route data that Google now has on line,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Velo-mobile-with-fountain.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Velo-mobile-with-fountain.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Velo-mobile-with-fountain.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Velo-mobile-with-fountain.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17807,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2024\/03\/14\/indianapolis-the-original-gateway-to-the-frontier\/","url_meta":{"origin":17212,"position":5},"title":"Proclamation – The Original Gateway to the Frontier, Indianapolis","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"March 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Whereas the National Road from Washington DC entered the frontier of the West after crossing the White River at this location in 1834; 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