If your alley has become a magnet for illegal dumping, help from the city might be on the way.
The Department of Business and Neighborhood Services is about to move into the second phase of its alley cleanup project. The program is focused on cleaning up and preventing illegal dumping. Some alleys could also be resurfaced as part of the project — as long as the alley has also been identified as a hotspot for dumping.
Residents all over Indianapolis know their alleyways could use some help.
Abbey Brands, the department’s director, told a City-County Council committee in May that a lack of investment in maintaining alleys has turned them into dumping hotspots.
“It’s an easy place where people can just throw mattresses and God knows what else,” Brands said.
The council’s Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee approved $3 million for the next phase of the three-year project.
The full council still needs to sign off on the funding, which could happen at its next meeting June 9.
Which alleys will get cleaned up?
The city is looking at 15 alleys.
But the final number could end up being slightly higher or lower, depending on the results of initial assessments. If an alley requires stormwater work, for example, that would probably make it too expensive, and it would be removed from the list.
Here are the 15 alleys being assessed:
The city used a heat map to identify illegal dumping and alley infrastructure issues.
Most are on the east and southeast sides. In the first phase of the project, most alley cleanups were on the west side, along with some on the north and east sides.
Brands said her department is working with the Department of Public Works for some parts of the project. DPW has helped with tasks such as clearing trees.
There are also some logistical challenges to work out with DPW, such as figuring out where alleys are a public right-of-way and where they become private property.
Alleys aren’t part of the city’s transportation network, so funding can be hard to come by.
But by cleaning up alleys, Brands said, the goal is to then prevent people from dumping there in the first place.
“We’re giving that right-of-way and that quality of life back to these neighborhoods,” she said.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick and Bluesky @tyfenwick.bsky.social.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
