How Indianapolis Is Making Its Streets Safer After a Fatal Crash
After cyclist Frank Radaker was struck and killed by a car, local advocates completed a tactical urbanism campaign with the support of city officials, installing paint and bollards to slow traffic. (Source: Bicycle Garage Indy.)
Editor's Note: This story originally appeared in the "Beyond Blame" report released in October 2024. The first Crash Analysis Studio that was supported by Strong Towns was conducted in Indianapolis in early 2023. Read on to learn more about the crash and the actions taken since the Studio was conducted.
On October 28, 2021, Frank Radaker was riding his bicycle, as he did on a near daily basis, when a car struck and killed him. He was the seventh cyclist since July of that same year to die on Indianapolis’ streets. In fact, in 2021, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization reported more than 200 traffic deaths, with their map displaying at least five within a mile of where Radaker was struck and killed. “We’re on track for one of the deadliest years for traffic violence in Indianapolis, right after setting a record last year,” said Damon Richards, executive director of Bike Indianapolis. “People keep saying something has to be done, but assume someone else has to do it.”
Unwilling to accept Radaker’s death as an inevitable consequence of living in Indianapolis, Connie Schmucker reached out to Strong Towns for help conducting a Crash Analysis Studio.
Radaker was killed where the Monon Trail — a Rails-to-Trails paved path that spans Central Indiana — intersects with East 86th Street, a hallmark stroad. East 86th Street supports five lanes of traffic at 35 mph. If a person walking or biking were struck by a vehicle traveling at this speed, they would end up hospitalized at best; at worst, they would succumb to their injuries on the spot. Moreover, at 35 mph, a driver requires at least 350 feet of roadway to safely react to any unanticipated objects or people on the road.
At a glance, however, the speed limit feels appropriate for East 86th Street. Every commercial space in the vicinity features a driveway and a parking lot. The corridor is less of a place to linger and more of a place to get through. Virtually nothing in the area is designed to be accessed by anything other than a personal vehicle.
Nothing, that is, except for “one of the best urban biking experiences in the U.S.,” which goes right through East 86th Street. Hikers and bikers are dumped onto a road that doesn’t accommodate them and drivers are taken by surprise. This fundamental incompatibility has made this intersection a dreaded segment of every trail user’s ride. In 2021, it led Radaker to his death.
The Crash Analysis Studio gave local advocates, city officials and engineers an opportunity to confront the culpability of the intersection in his death. Rather than focus on who was more at fault, driver or cyclist, the Studio focused on how the road’s design contributed to and elevated the stakes of the crash.
The Studio’s panelists devised several recommendations for the city, some of them as simple as installing more obvious signage to alert drivers of the impending trail crossing. Luckily for grieving panelists, they have allies in the city.
The problem is not the lack of political will, but the built-in bureaucracy that serves as an impediment to incremental change. As of July 2024, however, Indianapolis is trying something new.
After the Studio
In July 2024, Indianapolis announced a program that eliminates many of the political barriers that have long prevented the city from taking immediate action in the aftermath of crashes. Better yet, the Community Powered Infrastructure initiative encourages residents to take action themselves with guidance and tools from the Department of Public Works.
“Community Powered Infrastructure supplements the work of our engineering team by empowering residents to help make more immediate changes they would like to see in their neighborhoods,” the department’s director told the local news. “When residents are involved, projects are more likely to reflect the true needs and desires of the community.”
Initiatives like this fortify the city’s crisis response to a crash and lessen the chances of another happening. They also have preventative value: Locals intimately know what their neighborhoods need and the dangers they face. If they’re able to pioneer change, they can address those needs and dangers before a fatal crash takes place.
These changes are bearing fruit. Already, the department has worked with local advocates to install temporary bollards along crash-prone sites as it plans and budgets for more permanent design solutions.
Do you want to get your community on the path to safer streets? Join us on Wednesday, January 15, at noon EST for a free webinar with the Vision Zero Network. Click here to register.
Asia (pronounced “ah-sha”) Mieleszko serves as a Staff Writer for Strong Towns. A dilettante urbanist since adolescence, she's excited to convert a lifetime of ad-hoc volunteerism into a career. Her unconventional background includes directing a Ukrainian folk choir, pioneering synaesthetic performances, photographing festivals, designing websites, teaching, and ghostwriting. She can be found wherever Wi-Fi is reliable, typically along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.