Mayor Joe Hogsett comes out in support of Rethink 65/70 coalition's vision

Amy Bartner | IndyStar

Opponents of Indiana Department of Transportation's plan to rebuild the I-65/I-70 North Split in Downtown Indianapolis got a major supporter: Mayor Joe Hogsett.

Hogsett backed the Rethink 65/70 coalition's vision in a letter to Kia Gillette, environmental project manager for HNTB, a construction and infrastructure consulting firm and one of the North Split project leads.

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City-County Councillor Zach Adamson read the letter to a standing-room only crowd of about 125 people who came to support Rethink 65/70 at City County-Council's Public Works Committee meeting Thursday.

"As the design process unfolds over the next several months, I will ask INDOT to keep the interstate within the existing roadbed; make necessary bridge repairs to address valid safety concerns; make short-term repairs to allow further exploration of the long-term system-wide concepts; and build a project that does not preclude future construction of those concepts," Hogsett wrote.

The crowd began to clap and cheer, as Adamson continued with Hogsett's plea to INDOT to continue to seek public input while balancing the needs of people who live Downtown and commuters. Although Hogsett's statements support Rethink 65/70's mission, he is not affiliated with the group.

Adamson read the letter after representatives from Rethink 65/70 gave a 20-minute presentation outlining its goals: To repair and extend the life of the current degrading highway system for three to five years while coming up with a more comprehensive plan that re-imagines how the highway system moves through Downtown.

"The North Split project is the first phase of a much larger project that INDOT is planning and it will establish the template for what happens to the interstate," said Kevin Osburn, a managing partner at REA, an urban planning firm. "We think there is a much greater opportunity here that has not been demonstrated by INDOT."

In May, INDOT looked at seven concepts for updating not just the North Split, but the entire inner loop through Downtown. The $650,000 study authored by HNTB was the result of Rethink's request to look at alternatives, which required a wider look at the entire system before moving forward. The options included moving highways underground, eliminating them to create a boulevard or to rebuild with wider roads and walls. The latter was the most cost-effective at handling the amount of traffic through Downtown.

"The option that ended up smelling like a rose in INDOT's analysis was their original plan," Osburn said. "It's essentially a widened and walled interstate."

Thursday was the deadline for INDOT to receive public feedback on the analysis.

For Cheryl Rettig, vice president of the Cottage Home Neighborhood Association, hearing that Hogsett shared similar goals with Rethink 65/70 was a substantial step forward, she said.

"I had goosebumps," she said. "It's an important issue. This is where we live. It has felt hopeless, and there's hope now."

Call IndyStar reporter Amy Bartner at (317) 444-6752. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.