Chris Sikich

chris.sikich@indystar.com

In the aftermath of Saturday morning's shooting that left seven injured in Broad Ripple, the city has decided to close a congested stretch of Broad Ripple Avenue to late-night traffic.

Business and city leaders say the move will help calm the strip — a stretch of Broad Ripple teeming with restaurants, bars and nightclubs — but some residents worry the measure will only send traffic into their neighborhoods.

The decision came after city officials met with the Broad Ripple Village Association Thursday morning to discuss ramifications of the shooting. The community was shaken after two men who bumped into each other at 2:30 a.m. Saturday on a sidewalk along Broad Ripple Avenue, pulled out firearms and wounded seven bystanders.

After Thursday's meeting, Ryan Vaughn, Mayor Greg Ballard's chief of staff, said he directed the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to close the stretch to motor vehicles from College to Guilford avenues from midnight to 4 a.m. on weekends, at least through the summer.

Police will blockade the roadways with squad cars and allow through only taxis, police and emergency vehicles. Pedestrians will be allowed on the sidewalks, but officers on foot will ensure pedestrians do not enter the street.

Vaughn said the road is increasingly congested at night, and city officials and business owners believe closing it will have a calming effect on both foot and motor traffic.

Justin McKeand, president of the Broad Ripple Village Association, said business owners, including late-night bars and clubs, agree the road should be closed. In fact, police already shut down the street during particularly busy nights, including Halloween, he said.

"This eliminates what we call cruising," McKeand said, "which basically is people in their vehicles that are going up and down the avenue with no desire to do anything but see and be seen. Typically, they will go as far as to stop their vehicles in traffic, get out and go to talk to their friends, which causes other vehicles to remain stopped or unsafely go around them."

McKeand said the group and city considered allowing pedestrians on the street but opted against creating a late-night raucous partying atmosphere akin to New Orleans' Bourbon Street.

Police also have agreed to crack down on noise violations, traffic violations and public intoxication.

The village association, McKeand said, also will start a fundraising campaign to pay for private security to help police close the street, to install permanent cameras and to beautify public areas. He hopes to raise at least $10,000 through individual and corporate donations.

Vaughn hopes the police can close the street beginning tonight, but he was unsure whether it would be possible to develop and implement a strategy so quickly.

The department, he said, is concentrating on the funeral arrangements of patrolman Perry Renn, killed in the line of duty in a separate incident Saturday night. His viewing was Thursday and funeral is today.

At the latest, Vaughn said, the street will be closed next weekend. He believed the closure could be conducted with the officers currently deployed to Broad Ripple on weekends.

Indianapolis police officials could not immediately be reached.

Not everyone, though, thinks the idea of closing Broad Ripple Avenue is sound.

Lori Losee Todd, a nearby resident, calls it a "knee-jerk" reaction and worries the closure simply will spill the late-night drivers into quiet neighborhoods.

"My guess is drivers will be opting to use the side streets and residential streets," she said. "They are going to get around somehow."

Call Star reporter Chris Sikich at (317) 444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich.