The City of Indianapolis was recently 
considering the closure of Broad Ripple Avenue as a method of providing outdoor dining space for restaurants this year.
They were exploring the idea mostly for the upcoming NCAA games which we feel will have little impact on Broad Ripple. We conducted an online survey and also spoke to business owners on Broad Ripple Avenue between College Avenue and the Monon Trail and here are the results:
Business Owners:
- Oppose a closure: 63%
- Support a closure: 23%
- Ambivalent: 14%
The majority of businesses who oppose the closure stated last year’s Avenue closure damaged their business financially.
Online Survey Results:
- 2,909 respondents
- 69.2% favor a street closure
- 49.2% feel it should be closed between Winthrop and College instead of to the Monon Trail
- 31% feel it should be closed through the summer, while 29% voted to the end of the pandemic (TBD), 12% through the end of the year, and 28% said “other”.
- 69% of respondents were Broad Ripple residents, 8% Broad Ripple business owners, 32% Broad Ripple visitors.
The BRVA shared the results with the City of Indianapolis. Since we learned that the majority of businesses did not support the closure and that last year’s closure actually hurt them, we suggested that the City instead offer cement barricades to businesses who wanted to use the parking spaces in front of their storefronts.
UPDATE:
The City advised us on February 2 that they will NOT be closing Broad Ripple Avenue in March, nor will they be offering cement barricades. They stated they are currently experiencing a shortage of barricades. They also indicated they will work with the BRVA as decisions are made about the future months.
On a related topic, the sewers on Broad Ripple Avenue are scheduled for replacement in 2022. Since this requires much of the street and sidewalks to be torn up, the Avenue will also be redesigned with wider sidewalks on both sides of the street. We anticipate public input sessions this summer.
