Transportation advocates are heading to the Indiana Statehouse at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, to show support for mass transit and pedestrian safety.
It’s coming on the same day that the Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to hear a bill that would jeopardize the Blue Line bus rapid transit project. The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m.
The Blue Line will run along Washington Street and I-70 from Cumberland to the Indianapolis International Airport. Construction is scheduled to begin early next year with a target opening in 2027.
The Blue Line is the third bus rapid transit project in Indianapolis.
The Red Line, which opened in 2019, runs north and south from 66th Street to the southern county line. The Purple Line is under construction now and will run from Lawrence to downtown.
Senate Bill 52 — carried by State Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis — would prohibit the Blue Line from dedicating traffic lanes exclusively for bus use. Freeman, who has long opposed the Blue Line, is now finding allies among Irvington’s business community.
Without the dedicated lanes, IndyGo has said that the project would die along with millions in federal funding to add new bus stations, sidewalks, crosswalks, curb ramps and street upgrades.
Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers economics. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick.
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