Following an announcement by Mayor Joe Hogsett on Tuesday morning providing guidance for the reopening of restaurants and small businesses, the Indianapolis Department of Public Works (Indy DPW) today announces the closure of five street locations in dense commercial areas so that pedestrians may safely maintain social distancing guidelines. Locations include segments of Massachusetts Avenue, Georgia Street, Illinois Street, Broad Ripple Avenue, and Monument Circle.

Indy DPW Director Dan Parker will order the street locations be closed by Friday, May 22, the date that restaurants may re-open with outdoor seating and partial capacity.

"Our first priority is pedestrian safety," said Director Parker. "Adapting these locations into pedestrian corridors will provide the extra room needed to effectively distance ourselves from one another. It may also give restaurants without outdoor seating the opportunity to re-open to patrons using street space in the public right-of-way."

A full description of closure locations and detours is below. Information for restaurants seeking to re-open with outdoor dining is at indy.gov/dineout.

Indy DPW crews will mobilize as early as Wednesday to prepare appropriate barriers and signage at the sites of each closure. An executive order from Director Parker will effectively close the streets once these barriers and signage are installed. The order will remain in place until at least July 4, 2020.

A copy of the executive order is here.

Parking meters along the closed street segments will be suspended by ParkIndy throughout the ordered closure. However, motorists parking near the closure locations should be reminded that ParkIndy ambassadors will continue to enforce all parking restrictions, including metered spaces.

Road closure locations will include:

Massachusetts Avenue, from its intersection with College Avenue to its intersection with New York and Delaware streets.
Cross traffic will be maintained on Alabama, New Jersey, and East streets running north-south, and on Vermont, Michigan, and North streets running east-west.
Detour: Northeast-bound traffic on Massachusetts Avenue will detour eastbound on New York Street, then northbound on College Avenue before rejoining the route. Southwest-bound traffic on Massachusetts Avenue will detour westbound on St. Clair Street, then southwest on Ft. Wayne Avenue, then southbound on Pennsylvania Street, then eastbound on New York Street before rejoining the route.

Georgia Street, from Pennsylvania to Illinois streets.
Cross traffic will be maintained on Meridian Street.

Illinois Street, from Georgia to Market streets.
Cross traffic will be maintained on Washington and Maryland streets.
Detour: Northbound traffic on Illinois Street will detour eastbound on South Street, then northbound on Delaware Street, then westbound on Ohio Street before rejoining the route. Alternatively, northbound traffic may detour westbound on South Street, then northbound bound on Missouri Street which becomes West Street, then eastbound on Ohio Street until rejoining the route.

Broad Ripple Avenue, from College Avenue to Monon Trail.
Cross traffic will be maintained on Guilford and Winthrop avenues.
Detour: Eastbound traffic traveling around the Broad Ripple Avenue closure will detour southbound on College Avenue, then eastbound on Kessler Boulevard E Drive, then northbound on Keystone Avenue, then westbound on Broad Ripple Avenue before rejoining the route. Westbound traffic on Broad Ripple Avenue will detour east to Keystone Avenue, then southbound on Keystone Avenue, then westbound on Kessler Boulevard E Drive, then northbound on College Avenue before rejoining the route.

Monument Circle, southeast and southwest quadrants (south of Market Street)
Eastbound Market Street will be restricted just east of Illinois Street on the west spoke of Monument Circle. Meridian Street between Monument Circle and Washington Street will only be open to local traffic.