71st Street Trail

Indianapolis, Indiana

Kevin K. Parsons & Associates, Inc. (KPA) was retained by Indy Parks in 2009 to redesign this mile long urban trail project to INDOT standards in anticipation of being eligible for Federal ARRA Stimulus funding opportunities. Previously designed to local standards in 2001 by KPA and others, the 71st Street Trail had been considered a ‘shelf ready’ project under the ARRA program. Although not on the approved City of Indianapolis list for Stimulus eligible projects, KPA made and overwhelming effort to convince INDOT, the local MPO, and Indy Parks with extreme design production and expedited coordination tasks to make the project eligible, and to make INDOT submittals in a small fraction of the normal INDOT time frame process. With active support from the Federal Highway Administration local administrators, the Department of Natural Resources Division of Outdoor Recreation, and Indy Parks, KPA was able to provide the redesign and re-engineering of the trail to force the project acceptance and its bid letting for the stimulus funding. Through the construction and inspection phases, the project will receive approximately one million free stimulus dollars for the City of Indianapolis!