INDIANAPOLIS — When neighbors near 16th Street and Ritter Avenue on Indy's east side saw a safety problem with speeding in a school zone, they got worried.
Most students who attend Anna Brochhausen School 88 now walk to school and a survey by people in the Community Heights neighborhood showed neighbors wanted a fix to keep kids safer.
"A lot of people don't even pay attention to the fact there's a school zone - going 30, 40, sometimes 50 mph through here," said Mike Bridgeforth, whose daughter and granddaughter both attend IPS School 88.
"So yes, we had a couple cars going 50 mph," said Leslie Schulte, president of the Community Heights Neighborhood Organization.
The CHNO, after collecting data on the danger, came up with a unique solution: a colorful mural on the street.
Designed by local artist Deonna Craig, it's meant to grab drivers' attention and slow them down.
Eighty neighbors gathered together to paint it about a week ago. Another street mural will go near the crosswalk on the westbound lanes next month.
"Just to add visual elements that notify cars that something's going on here, let's pay attention. Let's slow down," Schulte said. "We'll see if it changes their behavior."
Sadly, we've had multiple crashes in Indianapolis over the past year or so where kids get hurt. That includes one in the crosswalk outside another IPS school, where a little girl was hit and killed.
Using artwork on the asphalt is a proven way to reduce risk for pedestrians. A study this spring in 17 communities nationwide showed crashes declined 17% after art was installed in the right of way.
Crashes with injury went down nearly 50%.
It's a strategy called "tactical urbanism" - low-cost, community-led solutions to traffic problems.
That's how the Community Heights neighborhood paid for the mural. Indianapolis has a new grant program for tactical urbanism.
"So it's installing things like murals or cones or even seating along the right of way," Schulte said. "Adding those different elements to the right of way hopefully makes us all safer."
In this case, she said, the mural acts as a psychological barrier for drivers, meant to calm traffic and protect kids.