Mapleton-Fall Creek bike lanes opposed by neighbors

After 30 years of living on Washington Boulevard, Portia Jackson is finally seeing some street improvements in her northside neighborhood.

The new sidewalks and redone streets are part of a project to improve drainage between 29th Street and 40th Street in the Mapleton Fall-Creek neighborhood.

That would seem like good news to Jackson, who has congestive heart failure and carries around oxygen tanks. A therapeutic foster parent, Jackson has an old garage that can’t fit her SUV and scooter, so she parks on the street in front of her house for mobility. Her neighbors leave the space for her.

But the street work is coming at a cost to Jackson: She’s losing access to that parking.

That’s because the Department of Public Works plans to install bike lanes on the east side of the street as part of an effort to meet its goals for its “Complete Streets” policy, which aims to increase safety for bicyclists and pedestrians. The plan is also in line with the city’s Vision Zero policy to reduce or eliminate traffic-related deaths and serious injuries.

Jackson and her neighbors concerned about the loss of parking have tried to get the city to adjust its plans. They asked about moving the bike lanes to Pennsylvania Street, but that didn’t take. They contacted City-County Councilor Ron Gibson with their concerns, but Gibson supports the project.

“I sympathize with individual needs, but I think holistically, the bike lanes are a great improvement to Washington Boulevard,” said Gibson, a Democrat who represents the northeast side.

Gibson said he worked with the city to ensure that Jackson would have a dedicated parking spot across the street, but that wasn’t enough to sway Jackson. Since losing access to her side of the street, she’s had to park in the alley behind her house, where she said her car was recently broken into.

“We’re good neighbors. Our yards are manicured. We look out after each other and keep this area really nice and wholesome,” Jackson, 63, told Mirror Indy from her front porch on Washington Boulevard. “Why devalue our lives, our physical health, our mental health?”

Indy DPW did offer some concessions, such as removing bike lanes between 30th and 32nd streets — though a bike lane could be added in the future, a spokesperson told Mirror Indy.

City officials also say the project will provide the neighborhood with a connection to the Monon Trail, the Fall Creek Trail, the Children’s Museum and other amenities after a bike lane is installed along 30th Street.

A similar situation played out in another neighborhood, but with different results.

Meridian-Kessler residents organized against the addition of bike lanes in their neighborhood. With the help and support of City-County Councilor John Barth, they persuaded DPW to scrap the bike lanes from the project.

Despite neighborhood pushback in Mapleton-Fall Creek — which is just south of Meridian-Kessler — DPW is moving forward with its plans.

Shanda Eickelberger lives in the Historic Meridian Park neighborhood, which is located within the boundaries of Mapleton-Fall Creek. She first learned about the project last year, when she was president of the Historic Meridian Park neighborhood association.

Eickelberger was skeptical of the initial plans. It’s not that she and her neighbors are against bike lanes, she said. They just think they would be better suited for Pennsylvania Street.

Some neighbors began posting small yellow signs in their front yard that say “Don’t Take Our Parking” with an attached QR code to a neighborhood survey, which showed that a majority of residents who filled out the survey were against the project.

She now wishes she had pushed back harder from the jump.

“I feel like my Midwestern nice got taken advantage of,” Eickelberger told Mirror Indy.Eickelberger thinks the Meridian-Kessler Neighborhood Association was successful because the residents have more clout with city officials. And it helped to have the support of their city-county councilor.

“I think they are just more savvy than I am,” Eickelberger said. “We don’t have as many connections. The median income and house price is lower, and our voices aren’t as strong.”

Not everyone in Mapleton-Fall Creek is against the project.

Matt Bush and his family moved into the neighborhood in 2019. He rides his bike to get to most places.

He used to be more involved with the neighborhood association but has since taken a step back after finding himself at odds with most of his neighbors about the project.

Bush believes they are afflicted with a phenomenon known as “car brain,” a derogatory term used by pedestrian and cycling advocates.

“They have to park their car immediately in front of their house, and any deviation from that is an impediment to them,” Bush said. “I just don’t think anybody understands it. When I start talking to our neighbors, they think bike riding is, like, fun. They don’t understand that people use it as transportation and that safe bike lanes are — I’m gonna call them necessary. We have to have safe passage through the city.”

There were 110 people killed in traffic-related crashes in 2024, about a third of which were pedestrians, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Bush said he was disappointed to see the bike lanes eliminated in Meridian-Kessler — what he called another case of “car brain.”

Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.

Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or [email protected]. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.

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by Peter Blanchard, Mirror Indy May 5, 2025

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