FAQs

The “Inner Loop,” the sections of I-65 and I-70 that intersect within greater downtown Indianapolis. is more than fifty years old. Its pavements and bridges are nearing or exceeding the their useful life. Now the question is how to rebuild or replace this critical infrastructure.

It has started already. In 2023, the North Split section of the Inner Loop reopened following a two-year, approximately $340 million reconstruction project. We must now think about the rest of the Inner Loop, including the sections of both interstates within I-465.

Yes! Rethink Coalition’s vision is for a fully recessed Inner Loop outside of the North Split, bordered by an on-grade perimeter multimodal boulevard, all of which can easily be constructed within the existing interstate right-of-way. It replaces space-consuming, high-speed, limited-access ramps and elevated embankments to allow an efficient compact freeway passing under, rather than above, the urban grid. The results would transform an interstate-style dead zone into a multimodal path of interconnectivity, create significant zones for new equitable development, and open space for amenities to support that development. The magic of this vision is the innovative, but proven, infrastructure financing process of value capture. Read the Visionary Study to learn more.

One positive result of the North Split development and construction process is that it motivated INDOT to advance the remainder of the Inner Loop construction, guided by an alternatives evaluation process of more open collaboration as encouraged by current USDOT policy. That process is called ProPEL. ProPEL is intended to streamline the environmental approval process by reducing conflict-caused project delays. Visit ProPEL Indy to learn more.

We certainly are. First we have met multiple times with INDOT’s principal advisor, HNTB, and we have listened in on most of the community conversation meetings that HNTB has facilitated starting in July 2023. Second, we have given INDOT and HNTB access to Rethink Coalition’s professional and community engagement resources so that the ProPEL Indy team can understand fully the imperative of recessing the interstates and use Rethink Coalition’s work over the past six years to advance the mission of building a better City and State for the next many decades. Finally, we participated in a detailed Workshop on September 19, 2023, with INDOT/HNTB, with attendees also from the City of Indianapolis and federal transportation authorities, and presented again all the Rethink Coalition’s studies and work in looking at viable alternatives for the I-65/I-70 Inner Loop. We followed that with a comprehensive summary on September 28, 2023, that linked to the studies and the work and gave the ProPEL Indy team a roadmap for coordinated decisions about our urban interstates and land use in and around the downtown loop.

Take a look at that September 28 summary to see the depth and breath of Rethink Coalition’s participation and better understand the momentum for change and transformation of Indianapolis and Central Indiana. Here are the final paragraphs that capture we are saying:

“As discussed at the Workshop, a thriving Central Indiana hinges on coordinated decisions about our urban interstates and land use in and around the downtown loop. INDOT’s planning is key, but INDOT can’t make it happen independently. Rethink is working to bring decision-makers and stakeholders together to capitalize on the opportunities that a recessed interstate brings, emphasizing the need for land value-capture funding to enable rebuilding the Inner Loop (not including the North Split) recessed. We are also paying attention to peer cities that are recessing and/or capping their elevated highways and bringing that knowledge to the table, looking for the best ideas to inform the conversation. Rebuilding elevated creates a major competitive disadvantage that would set Indianapolis behind in talent attraction, economic development, environmental justice, and all the other goals ProPEL seeks to achieve.

Rethink Coalition is working closely with the Indy Chamber, the City, businesses, neighborhoods, and institutional stakeholders. Our job has been to gauge what the community or public wants. We’ve done that for the past six years, casting the vision of the Comparative Study and listening to stakeholder reactions. We can now say with confidence that we know what the community wants. The USDOT Reconnecting Communities grant will demonstrate what’s possible when decision-makers and stakeholders collaborate and will further define and serve as a prototype for the bold vision of recessing the rest of the Inner Loop.

As ProPEL’s principles and pillars affirm, our collective imperative is to catalyze inclusive economic development, enhance neighborhood connectivity, improve our environment, drive job creation, and compete with peer cities rethinking their urban interstate infrastructure – all possible while improving traffic flow efficiency, mobility, and safety. By recessing the Inner Loop, we can set Indianapolis and Central Indiana on a path that makes it truly a city and region where people want to live, work, play, and stay for the next half-century and make Indianapolis and Indiana a national model for transformational urban quality of life and interstate development. Now is the time to chart a path toward a bold vision that brings our neighbors and neighborhoods together for an inspiring and transformational future.”

Visit the ProPEL website to learn more about the initiative.

Yes! We have the support of the community, the expertise of our technical team, and the trust of the U.S. Department of Transportation, which awarded us a sizable planning grant to develop Rethink Coalition’s concept for one section of the Inner Loop we are calling our "Southeast Gateway," where the interstate is already partially recessed.

And we are also actively engaged with improving the tentative design for one of the Inner Loop’s spokes, a five-mile-long section of I-65 between I-465 and the South Split (called the “I-65 SAFE Project”), which was well into the design stage before either ProPEL Indy began or the USDOT planning grant was received. Rethink Coalition’s involvement is a model of community engagement in which the corridor’s stakeholders worked with Rethink’s technical advisors to develop recommendations for the I-65 SAFE project, looking at how to leverage INDOT’s planned investment to reconnect districts and neighborhoods tragically separated by the interstate corridor. This is a test and model for future collaboration for rebuilding the Inner Loop. Learn more about Rethink Coalition’s SAFE Report.

The Arup feasibility analysis, conducted 2020-21 with financial support from the Lilly Endowment, concluded that a Rethink-style recessed option, with all its attendant benefits, would cost $2.8 billion to build in 2020 dollars for the full Inner Loop (i.e. other than the already reconstructed North Split).

That amount included the recessed interstate freeway, multi-modal boulevard system, restored connections between neighborhoods and downtown, strategic capping and stitching, reduced noise and air pollution, and a chance to address historic inequities by equitably redeveloping surrendered land.

The rebuild-as-is option would cost $2.3 billion to build in 2020 dollars. That amount covers modest safety improvement to comply with today’s design standards, but beyond that, essentially identical infrastructure to what we see today.

So, it is certain that we will spend significant upfront sums to replace this infrastructure one way or another in the next 10-15 years. The real question is, which design will generate the most value for Indianapolis, the region, and the state from that initial expenditure over the next two generations? That value may be in the form of (1) reduced highway maintenance expenses, (2) healthcare savings derived from improved greenspaces, tree coverage, air quality, noise reduction, and pedestrian activity, and (3) new land development opportunities improving the tax base. We need a complete cost/benefit/value analysis!

We must select a design that makes the most of taxpayer dollars, learns lessons from the past, and helps support the long-term recovery, resiliency, and growth of our city and region.

Yes. Financing strategies exist to help close the upfront cost difference (about 26%) between the two designs so we can get the long-term benefits of the right kind of investment and avoid the long-term costs and downsides of rebuilding as is.

The South Leg presents an excellent case study for how to finance a recessed concept. A recessed option on the South Leg would cost about $195m more upfront than the rebuild-as-is concept. That leg of the interstate also represents about 23 acres of land that could be reclaimed from under the interstate.

The Arup team explored a conservative scenario in which 70% of those 23 acres were used to finance the recessed option—land sales for those parcels would bring in $35 million, and using tax increment financing or special assessment districts, that acreage could be feasibly leveraged to generate $160 million. There are surely other/better alternatives to consider. Again, all these estimates are in 2020 dollars, but you get the point.

The bottom line is that smart value-capture financing strategies could completely or mostly close the upfront cost gap between the two options and give us transformative returns—financial, health, equity, housing, livability, workforce/talent development, and so many others—from that investment over the next 50 years. Again, we must do the very best cost/benefit analysis and come up with a solid solution, as other forward-thinking cities all over the country are now doing. The Arup study gives us a head start.

All solvable. There hasn’t been a major construction project in the county that hasn’t had to address water table issues, whether Pogue’s Run or others. We can do it—and have done it many times before. Technology today makes water table issues far less of a problem, including in those cities where recessed interstates have been successfully constructed near major rivers (e.g., Cincinnati and St. Louis).

The lengthy rebuild process (including planning and design) will stretch over a decade or more, not months. And, as with any major interstate project, the construction will require smart sequencing of lane closures and openings, temporary detours, and rerouting traffic around I-465 (which has little impact on travel time for pass-through traffic).

As explained in earlier FAQs, reconstructing the Inner Loop “as is” or recessed requires multiple phases of construction and partial closures. A recessed interstate system has the advantage, however, because in most areas, the trench for the proposed recessed highway can be constructed while the existing interstate remains open. When the trench is ready, traffic can be diverted to the trench in phases so that portions of the elevated interstate can be demolished.

Most cities completely removing their elevated interstates are dealing with “spurs” or underutilized interstate sections that aren’t as long as our Inner Loop and/or do not carry the same amount of traffic. We want to reduce the impact of the Inner Loop on the expanding population in and around Center Township. Recessing the interstate makes it less intrusive in the quality of life and achieves all the other benefits already highlighted. This is our once-in-two generation opportunity to do this.

Maintenance costs should be about the same. That’s because the overall scale of the infrastructure for the recessed option is comparable to rebuilding as-is. Maintenance funds would be spent differently. An elevated, Inner Loop takes up more land, requiring tax dollars to maintain. Rethink Coalition’s vision for recessing the Inner Loop allows that extra land to be used in more beneficial ways.

The same way they do on elevated interstates: by entering the roadway via a ramp and driving to the crash site. The recessed interstate will have shoulders for emergencies like any other interstate. Meanwhile, the reconnected grid and boulevard system will improve response times in many areas by providing emergency vehicles with multiple route options, minimizing the possibility of traffic delays.

Rethink Coalition’s vision for recessing the interstates will have a positive impact on traffic flow by modifying entrance and exit ramps, increasing the distance between points where drivers have to make decisions, and reducing dangerous weaving patterns. All of this makes regional and local traffic safer and more efficient. Recessing the interstates will improve our position as the Crossroads of America.

The railroads on the east side of downtown are a barrier to recessing the East Leg of the Inner Loop. This is one of the biggest planning challenges for that area. The City of Indianapolis has indicated a desire to remove heavy rail from the city center. Further study is needed to understand how rail freight can be rerouted. Importantly, the uncertain, long-term future of the rails does not affect the viability of recessing the North and South Legs of the Inner Loop. So, a large percentage of the overall Rethink vision can be implemented regardless of the railroads’ ultimate fate. In short, now is the time to study all of these railroad-related issues, because rails have a significant [negative] impact on most aspects of city life.

Absolutely not! We are creating improved access points at the Inner Loop’s corners and a new multi-modal boulevard that increases connectivity between the interstate and the city core. Traffic flow and access will be better.

Yes—with the understanding that the interstate needs to be elevated to cross over Fall Creek, which is doable. Rethink Coalition wants to see the interstate reconfigured to reconnect neighborhoods all the way up to 38th Street.

Yes, and yes! Cities, big and small, near and far, have recessed their interstates. Columbus, OH, Cincinnati, OH, St. Louis, MO, Dallas, TX, Boston, MA, and others have tackled projects like building interstate caps, stitches, and even tunnels, and countless other cities and states have plans to do the same. As Rethink Coalition’s Visionary Study shows, for Indianapolis, recessing the Inner Loop is not only practical, it’s preferred. There are plenty of examples from around the country of how rethinking urban interstates to knit neighborhoods back together can catalyze our vision for a more vibrant Indianapolis and Central Indiana.

Yes, here’s a printable tri-fold brochure that community leaders, groups, and stakeholders can use to explain why recessing the Inner Loop is the best way to improve our long-term health, wellbeing, and economic viability and ensure Central Indiana is positioned as a world-class region with a vibrant urban core for decades to come. The rest of this website has lots of information about Rethink Coalition and our vision for Indianapolis and Central Indiana.