Community Heights resident Leslie Schulte said there have been a lot of crashes in the eastside neighborhood — especially on East 10th Street.
But a fatal crash in 2018 stands out.
The accident happened during busy afternoon traffic, and Schulte said there was a fiery explosion.
“Because that one happened at rush hour and was so dramatic, it really spurred the neighborhood to do something about a problem it already knew,” Schulte said.
A few years later in 2023, Community Heights residents conducted a traffic calming experiment to make East 10th Street safer. Through the city’s tactical urbanism program, volunteers installed temporary barriers along East 10th Street to slow vehicles and prevent drivers from using the center turn lanes as passing lanes. Data from the project showed the barriers reduced speed and reduced crashes by 73%.
Schulte said the project made traffic on East 10th Street safer for both cars and pedestrians.
“When some cars are going 50 miles an hour and some cars are going 30 miles an hour, that’s a very different roadway than when everyone’s going between 30 and 35 miles an hour,” Schulte said.
Now, the Department of Public Works says plans for a permanent redesign of East 10th Street are 60% complete. The Community Heights project will be the city’s first permanent redesign from a tactical urbanism project.
Dozens of eastsiders attended a meeting Nov. 10 to learn about the city’s plans. The changes coming to East 10th Street will be between Emerson Avenue and Arlington Avenue and include installing medians throughout the street. Concrete barriers will also be added between the street and bike lanes. Construction is expected to begin in 2028.
Community led change
Daniel Stevenson, the deputy director of policy and planning for DPW, said the department is confident in the infrastructure plans because of the success of the Community Heights tactical urbanism project.
“One of the really awesome parts about this particular project happening is that we have already tested this layout,” Stevenson said.
The tactical urbanism program is one of the city’s three community-powered infrastructure programs. Stevenson said the programs were created so the city could get a better understanding of residents’ needs.
“Our engineers, our staff, our crews cannot be everywhere all at once and nobody knows their neighborhood better than those people that are living and playing right here in the Community Heights neighborhood, for example,” Stevenson said.
Schulte agrees that tactical urbanism projects work because neighbors know their community best.
“If you talk to people, they are always like, ‘Ah, East 10th Street, I won’t use it because people drive so crazy’ or ‘someone’s always passing me, and it makes me nervous,’” Schulte said. “Neighbors that know this can take action, and that’s really empowering.”
Schulte said the city’s tactical urbanism program makes it easy for residents to take the lead on changes in their neighborhoods.
Through the program, neighborhoods can apply for permits and funding that allows them to install temporary street infrastructure. Participants also have access to a lending library for materials such as water barriers and traffic cones. The city then takes data from the projects and incorporates it into future infrastructure plans.
City-County Councilor Andy Nielsen, a Democrat who represents Community Heights, said the neighborhood’s project shows that the temporary projects can lead to permanent change.
“Community Heights has been an example, not just on the east side, not just in District 14, but in the city of Indianapolis for how we actually do this,” Nielsen said.
Community Heights resident Jill Esenwein was one of the project volunteers in 2023. She is excited to see permanent changes to East 10th Street.
“I think sometimes it’s easy to get cynical about things like this and that you won’t see the outcome or we were just going to continue to be ignored,” Esenwein said. “I think this is just so awesome to see that what everyone worked together on is coming to fruition.”
What’s next
The Department of Public Works said the design plan is not complete and encourages residents to reach out with feedback and ideas. DPW can be reached by email at dpwcommunications@indy.gov.
The city will host an open house on the community powered infrastructure programs from 4-5:30 p.m. Dec. 8 at the City-County Building. Interested attendees should RSVP online by Dec. 1.
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Mirror Indy reporter Darian Benson covers east Indianapolis. Contact her at 317-397-7262 or darian.benson@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @HelloImDarian or on Bluesky @darianbenson.bsky.social.
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