INDIANAPOLIS — It's one of the largest civil works project the city of Indianapolis has ever seen, and it's still on track to be completed in 2025.
Planning of the DigIndy Tunnel System is more than 25 years old, according to Mike Miller, project lead for Citizens Energy Group.
"It does feel weird to say we are nearing the end when we currently have 21 active project sites on this project right now," Miller said. "A lot of progress has been made in 2023, and 2024 will be more of the same."
The tunnel system is designed to capture and hold sewer water each time it rains. That water is then treated at the Southport Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant before it heads to Indy's waterways.
13News toured the tunnel along Pleasant Run Creek on the city's southeast side. It's about 41,000 feet long, underneath 100 feet of soil and 170 feet more of bedrock.
"What you see here, we have about 28.6 miles of total tunnel. It stretches all the way from Southport Road on the south side to just north of the fairgrounds," Miller said.
The system is comprised of six tunnels in all. Each is about 20 feet wide. In all, the system is capable of holding 270 million gallons of sewage each time it rains, according to Miller.
"On average, there is about five-to-six billion gallons of sewage that are released into the river system each year," Miller said. "When this project is done, we will capture close to 97% to 99% of all of that flow."
As of December 2023, four of the six tunnels are complete. Miller said those tunnels have been capturing and treating sewer water since 2017.
"We have captured almost five billion gallons to date," said Miller said. "Hopefully, it spurs some economic development along the river as well."
Peter Bloomquist owns Frank's Paddlesports Livery along the White River.
"Our goal is to make Indy a river city," Bloomquist said. "We've said that from the beginning."
Bloomquist said he has paddled rivers and creeks in Indianapolis for almost 20 years, with the water becoming a place of healing after his mother passed away when he was 15 years old.
Now, Bloomquist said he is already seeing the benefits of DigIndy.
"Water quality is better than it's been in half a century," Bloomquist said. "You, visually, can see a difference when you are out there."
With the DigIndy Tunnel System nearing completion, Bloomquist isn't the only business owner who wants a spot on the river.
"I want food and a drink on the edge of the water," said Steve Alexander, the owner of Back 9. "I want to be there and have fun. I want to go canoeing and kayaking."
Alexander and Bloomquist said Indy's waterways are currently unused potential for future generations, especially with cleaner water in the years ahead.
"It's not going to be the old guys like me that are going to come down on a jet ski, but if we have a jet ski rental place on the river, 20-somethings are going to be all over that," Alexander said.
"The time is right," Bloomquist said. "There are many, many examples of cities all over the U.S. utilizing their waterways in the appropriate manner."
At the peak of the DigIndy project, Miller said it employed about 250 people.
The project is an agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Citizens Energy Group and the city of Indianapolis to clean up the combined sewer overflow across the city.
"We are federally mandated," Miller said. "We have to build the project, but it is the right thing to do for the environment."
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"The White River has a stigma, and we are here to partner with Citizens and help shed that stigma," Bloomquist said.
Heading into 2024, crews said they are on track to wrap up construction in 2025.
"Our Fall Creek tunnel, which is required to be done by the end of 2025, will likely be done at the beginning of 2025," Miller said. "The Pleasant Run tunnel, which is the last project I mentioned, will be complete mid to late 2025."