The enhanced stops will feature a raised platform, shelter, ticketing machines, real-time information screens and security cameras, IndyGo says. Though similar in some ways to Red Line stops, they'll serve local fixed-route buses instead of the rapid-transit line.
The transit provider is teaming up with the Indianapolis Department of Public Works to launch the first phase of the project, called "Super Stops," on Delaware Street. Beginning early next year, crews will build two of the improved stops while completely rebuilding Delaware between Maryland and Vermont streets.
Ahead of construction, IndyGo invites the public to attend one of two virtual information sessions on Monday. Officials will give presentations at noon and 5:30 p.m. You may register for a Zoom session using links at indygo.net/superstops. IndyGo will broadcast the noon session live on its Facebook page.
Austin Gibble, a project development planner for IndyGo, said Delaware Street will receive the first two new stops because it already needed infrastructure work.
"This was a situation where DPW was going to reconstruct the street, IndyGo needed to do Super Stops, so we joined forces and we're making this large infrastructure improvement on Delaware Street together," he said.
IndyGo is splitting the reconstruction costs with the department and footing the whole bill for the new bus infrastructure. The total cost will be about $3.5 million, according to IndyGo board documents. Road work will include the removal of old streetcar tracks under the existing pavement.
Gibble said half of Delaware Street will remain open during construction.
BUS STOP IMRPOVEMENTS
One of the new stops will be just north of New York Street, and the other will be at North Street. Gibble said construction is expected to start in the first three months of 2021, depending on weather, and be complete in the fall.Plans call for six more of the improved stops around downtown, focusing on high-activity spots.
"These are locations where there's a lot of bus traffic, there's a lot of people, and these are designed to accommodate that large number of people more efficiently," Gibble said.
The platforms will be about 90-feet long, able to accommodate two buses at one time. They'll be about 9 inches high, making it easier to step on and off the bus.
While Gibble said the stops will have ticket machines, it's unclear if the much-delayed MyKey ticketing app will be fully operational when the stops open. The agency had said the account-based fare system would allow users to refill fare cards or purchase a digital card for free, avoiding the one-time $2 fee for a physical card.
Initially supposed to launch it on Oct. 1, 2019, IndyGo last week announced educational events for MyKey as they continue to test the system. Staff anticipate it to begin operations between April and June of 2021, according to board documents.
Spokesperson Faith Chadwick said IndyGo will start testing and upgrading ticket vending machines at Red Line stations in the new year.
NEW BUS-AND-TURN-LANE
In addition to the new stations, the Delaware Street project will also add a bus-and-turn lane on the right-hand travel lane next to the parking lane. The lane will be painted red and accessible only to buses except for 50 feet before intersections, where the paint will become dashed and regular vehicles may use it to make right turns."When we did our traffic study, we found that that lane of Delaware Street has buses in it so often that it essentially acts as a de facto bus lane already," Gibble said.
He said that the new markings will help organize traffic and that they've been effective where used along the Red Line route.
The project will also turn Fort Wayne Avenue into a two-way street between Delaware and Alabama streets. Gibble said this change will eliminate two difficult turns for buses, replacing it with one 45-degree turn. He said the change will help some of their busiest routes.
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