Below are the meeting materials from both rounds of public meetings for the Indy Greenways Master Plan. The planning process for the update has been driven by public input and informed by countless meetings with residents, advocates, neighborhood groups, and others interested in the long-term investment in greenways in the city of Indianapolis. Indy Parks committed tremendous resources and access to project planners to enable the public to help craft the direction and recommendations of the master plan. This process lead to the materials you see on this page.
PUBLIC MEETING 1
In February of 2013, nine public meetings were held throughout Marion County, one in each township. At each meeting, residents were asked to help identify critical connections, identify strategic goals for trail development and help develop potential routes within each township. This input contributed to the preliminary recommendations that were developed and presented in the second round of public meetings in August. The presentation from the first round of public meetings can be viewed by clicking here.
PUBLIC MEETING 2
After the first round of public meetings, several additional coordination meetings were held over the next six months to determine the resulting routes, connections, and improvements needed to the Indy Greenways system. In August 2013, five additional public meetings were held throughout Indianapolis to unveil the preliminary recommendations of the master plan: the Full Circle Plan. The presentation from the second round of public meetings can be viewed by clicking on the image or clicking here.
THE FULL CIRCLE PLAN
The Full Circle Plan is the resulting long-term vision identified for Indy Greenways. Like the Kessler Plan and the original Greenways Master Plan (1994, 2002), this plan seeks to identify a long-term and comprehensive vision for trail and greenway development in the City. Like those early plans, it is intended to set the long-term directives for trail development, addressing the needs of recreation, access, connectivity, transportation, economic impact, and environmental stewardship while putting into place a level of inter-agency coordination to oversee the system. In the end, it seeks to further establish and sustain the Indy Greenways system as one of the world-class greenway systems. From August 20-29, the public was invited to review the plan and provide feedback and reaction to its recommendations.
The Full Circle Plan (preliminary recommendations) are broken into four distinct parts:
Completing the Existing System- This portion of the plan examines the current trails and greenways and identifies needed improvements, upgrades, enhancements, or areas where reconstruction is necessary. The new plan recognizes the validity of the master plan that is already in place and includes completing the portions of the existing routes that aren’t already constructed.- Connections to the City Center- The plan also recognizes the significance of having direct routes from the perimeter of the county to downtown in terms of providing direct connections, commuter routes, neighborhood connections, and economic development potential. Using the existing Monon Trail as an example, the plan recommends four additional routes to the center of Indianapolis from the ring townships.
- The Circle- Perhaps one of the more progressive recommendations, the plan outlines east-west and north-south connections in the ring townships using the four major destination parks (Eagle Creek Park, Southwestway Park, Southeastway Park, and Fort Harrison State Park) in each corner of the city as the organizational structure. The result is a continuous 62-mile shared-use greenway corridor that circles the city.
- The Connectors- these corridors provide opportunities to link together key greenway segments and provide a “layered” effect to the greenway system, in many cases providing multiple opportunities for greenway development and use and providing key connections to regional trail systems.
You can view the meeting graphics illustrating each part by clicking on the image above or by clicking here.
Together, these four parts constitute a system that is truly embedded within the fabric of the city and connected in a way never before seen here. When the current bikeways, township connectivity plans, and the new mass transit initiatives are overlaid with the new Full Circle system, the resulting connectivity becomes quickly apparent. To view the overall Full Circle Plan, click on the image or the following link: Full Circle Master Plan-11×17
Individual maps presented at the public meeting are also included below. The existing segments of the greenway system are keyed to indicate improvement areas along each segment. Nine new greenway routes are also identified and mapped as part of the system. To view the mapping presented at the public meetings, click on the icons or use the following links:
In the end, the Full Circle Plan identifies over 122 miles of new trail development that connects over 80 different park facilities across the City. Take a look and let us know what you think. For more information, click here: FAQ Sheet_FULL CIRCLE PLAN
INDY GREENWAYS MASTER PLAN 