When Curtis Smith comes home to Haughville from work, he drives down an alley to park his car in his garage.
If that sounds simple, it probably means you haven’t had to drive down Indianapolis’ many battered alleys. Despite signs warning of a $2,500 fine for illegal dumping, the alley behind his North Belmont Avenue home is often used as a dumping ground for construction debris and trash.
He and other homeowners sometimes have to pick up someone else’s garbage to clear the way.
“I just picked some up yesterday,” Smith said.
To help residents like him, the Indianapolis Department of Business and Neighborhood Services has selected 13 alleys for the second phase of its $5 million Alley Illegal Dumping Mitigation Program. Crews will clean and pave alleys in order to discourage illegal dumping.
In the first phase of the program, city workers removed nearly 41 tons of trash and paved 19 alley segments at the cost of $1.92 million. The second phase will cost $1.67 million.
Any remaining funds will be used to keep those alleys clean in the future and to conduct more cleanings in alleys across Marion County.
“By removing trash and debris and rehabilitating right-of-ways to discourage illegal dumping behavior, we’re investing in these communities’ quality of life,” said BNS director Abbey Brands in a press release.
How the alleys were selected
The program is one of the few ways for alleys to get repaired in Indianapolis.
BNS used data from illegal dumping cases, Mayor’s Action Center reports and Department of Public Works to select alleys with the highest concentration of illegal dumping and infrastructure issues in the city.
Six alleys on the west side, five alleys on the south side and two alleys on the east side were selected for the program.
6 westside alleys
Half of the westside alleys selected for the program are in neighborhoods located behind strip malls along West Washington Street.
Others are near heavily traveled thoroughfares.
Smith’s alley is located near the intersection of North Belmont Avenue and 10th Street. The cleaning and repair will affect a quarter-mile stretch of the alley between North Belmont Avenue and North Traub Avenue from West St. Clair Street to West 11th Street.
In the Hawthorne neighborhood near the grounds of the former Central State Hospital, Clinton Spencer and his neighbors have been forced to pick up after illegal dumpers, who have tossed furniture like desks, dressers and mattresses in the alley next to his home.
“Some people just drive up, dump some stuff out and haul on down the road,” Spencer said.
Spencer’s alley is between North Goodley Avenue and North Concord Street from West Michigan Street to West Vermont Street.
The alley south of Long’s Bakery, stretching from North Tremont Street to North Pershing Avenue, was also selected for the program.
“It’ll be nice to have it done, because it’s easy to see that this alley needs some work,” Smith said.
5 southside alleys
Most of the southside alleys selected for cleaning and repairs are located in neighborhoods east of Interstate 65.
Two alleys are in the Near Southeast neighborhood. One is between Lawton and Naomi Streets from I-65 to State Avenue. Another is between East Minnesota Street and East Iowa Street from Draper Street to Randolph Street.
For the past year, Enrique Melendez has helped his mom run Taco Jalisquillo along East Minnesota Street, but it’s come with some challenges. He said the battered alley behind the storefront prevented the city from picking up their trash.
“They said it was too small, the potholes were too big, they were gonna get stuck. So it was something very challenging for us,” Melendez said.
Melendez said the family paid a private company to pick up their trash, and that they’ve had issues with illegal dumping in the alley. One time, Melendez said, someone even left a half-skinned deer outside of the business.
“No one came to pick it up,” Melendez said. “I think my mom had to hire some people.”
Now that the alley has been repaved, Melendez said the city has resumed picking up their trash.
“It’s actually pretty good,” Melendez said. “We haven’t had any problems recently about it. So that actually helped us out a lot.”
Meanwhile, in Bean Creek, the alley selected for the program is between Cruft Street and Nelson Avenue from I-65 to Dietz Street.
Two alleys are located just north of Southeastern Avenue. One is located between Trowbridge Street and South Temple Avenue, and another is just north of the Geiger & Peters Inc. steel fabrication plant off South Sherman Drive.
2 eastside alleys
The city selected two eastside alleys for the second phase of the program.
One alley is southeast of Washington Park between Adams and Stuart streets, stretching from 28th Street to 30th Street.
The second eastside alley selected is located south of Brookside Park between Dearborn and Lasalle Streets from Nowland Avenue to 10th Street.
That alley is behind Chazz Middlebrook’s girlfriend’s house. Middlebrook spends a lot of time at the house, but said he and his girlfriend really only use the alley for taking out the trash. They haven’t witnessed illegal dumping, but Middlebrook said the alley has a lot of potholes and looks neglected. He said it could benefit from being repaired.
“There are some people that do use these alleys to park their cars or if you have a backyard that goes into the alleyway, people want to spend time back there,” Middlebrook said. “They obviously want it to look good, and they want to feel good about being in that space.”
Work will last through summer
Some alleys will require residents to park elsewhere temporarily or move their trash cans to another location while crews work.
BNS says it will give residents advance notice before beginning work and will place signs near affected neighborhoods with closure dates.
Work on all the alleys is scheduled to be completed by the end of summer.
For more information, contact the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services at 317-327-8700.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on Bluesky at @enriquesaenz.bsky.social.
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.
Mirror Indy reporter Elizabeth Gabriel covers the south side of Marion County. Contact her at elizabeth.gabriel@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X at @_elizabethgabs.
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