INDIANAPOLIS — It's been more than two weeks since a new safety initiative started at 86th Street and the Monon Trail in the Nora neighborhood.
The intersection is considered one of the most dangerous crossings in Indianapolis with about a million people using it yearly.
That's why 50 volunteers from Bicycle Garage Indy and the Nora Alliance launched a tactical urbanism project at the crossing.
The volunteers bumped out curbs, added rumble strips and installed yellow bollards to alert drivers of the change.
But it turns out, drivers are now doing more damage than good.
So far, 11 of the 13 bollards installed have been damaged.
"Within two days of installing the bollard, five were already down,” said Connie Szabo Schmucker, advocacy director at Bicycle Garage Indy.
Szabo Schmucker and several other volunteers returned Tuesday to reinstall them, only to find more damaged bollards.
“When I got there, only two of the thirteen bollards were still standing ... only two,” said Szabo Schmucker. “You have to understand that every bollard that is hit, could have been a person standing there.”
The total cost of the damage is around $1,000.
As part of the project, Indy DPW said it will also be widening the crosswalk and installing new crosswalks on the north and south sides of 86th Street.
Plus, the department will add trail crossing signage on the roadway in both directions.
It comes as the city just applied for a federal grant to add a pedestrian bridge over the intersection last month.
So far, no funding has been secured.
Szabo Schmucker said this project is more proof that permanent safety measures are needed in the area.
“We need to make that intersection as safe as we can right now and there are simple things that can be done,” she said.
The tactical urbanism project will be in place until September.
There is also an opportunity next week to get involved in the conversation. Bicycle Garage Indy is hosting a virtual summit next Tuesday. Advocates will discuss the next steps to create a safer Indianapolis as well as efforts to create a Vision Zero Policy.