In spring 2025, we became concerned that the road could be funded through private donations. We researched the issues and distributed a Position and Rationale Statement opposing the road to Councilor John Barth; City officials at Indy Parks and the Department of Metropolitan Development; and several local philanthropies including the Parks Alliance of Indianapolis and Lilly Endowment Inc. to ensure they are aware of the public's concerns. The Concerns page contains our position. Rationales are in this dropdown menu.
The proposed new road, roundabouts, parking, and increased commercial activity in the park were not well supported or convincingly evaluated. Most local residents do not even know of the existence of the 2018 master plan, as we discover when we talk to park users. During the obligatory and tightly orchestrated "consultation" phase, the plan's preparers did receive some public opposition -- which was ignored. They were able to push the plan to its preordained approval without impact analysis, reasonable opportunity for critique, or fact-based rebuttal. This must not happen again.
Important: Any element in an officially adopted plan is only a recommendation and not binding or mandatory. Many factors can influence whether a plan’s elements are later implemented.
The new road would need a 100-foot-wide corridor for two travel lanes and over 155 new parking spaces and sidewalks on both sides. The additional pavement would degrade the "green factor" of Broad Ripple Park, greatly diminishing the beauty and serenity of the park, undermining the restorative aspects that draw many park users. Trees would be removed for the road, roundabouts, and increased parking. This is not trivial.
More trees would die than just the ones whose ground is covered over by asphalt or pavement. Huge underground stormwater detention basins would be required to manage the runoff from impervious surfaces (see 13. Stormwater Issues and Costs).
We also oppose destruction of trees on the river’s edge and/or paving its bank to create pedestrian level views to White River. See Terraced River Edge, River Overlook, and River Hillside Lawn on the master plan rendering. We support preserving natural qualities of the river environment and restoring trees and native plants to stabilize the river’s edge.
Trees and greenery are the essence of a park. Broad Ripple Park has many large, mature trees. They cannot be replaced in the next few decades. When they are gone, they are gone. People visit for the green space and for the trees, shade, and ambiance.
The road would create major safety hazards for children, pedestrians, dog walkers, dogs, people with a disability, and bicyclists. Increased traffic and vehicular activity would pose a heightened danger if the road were in use while they were roaming and recreating in the park. Children engaged in fun activities such as hide-and-seek would be at greater risk of encountering hazards due to the proximity of the road. Double-loaded parking (on both sides of the road) creates safety risks by obstructing visibility, narrowing road capacity, and forcing pedestrians to walk into active traffic lanes to bypass vehicles.
Note: City planners have asserted that parking and roundabouts would act as natural speed deterrents; that access control measures would allow the road to be closed during events; and that the road could be closed if there is use as a cut-through route. However, we cannot rely upon these assurances, particularly in our automobile-centric culture. We are skeptical that such measures would be implemented or, if implemented, would provide adequate safety.
More asphalt and pavement would result in loss of green space, trees, and habitat for flora and fauna. There would be fewer wildflowers, birds, bees, butterflies, chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, etc. in the park. The new road would divide natural habitats and increase the risk of vehicle collisions with wildlife, leading to increased wildlife mortality.
We support the preservation of existing green space and trees in the park and the planting of new native trees.
Related Concerns: Additional wildlife habitat would be lost if green space and trees south of the tennis courts were eliminated to accommodate the planned three sand volleyball courts. Wildlife and habitat would be disturbed if an elevated tree "canopy walk" (see master plan, page 75) were installed in the woodland. We support respect, preservation, remediation, and proper care of the woodland.
City parks are places where people can go to “get a breath of fresh air.” The proposed new road would allow motor vehicles to intrude into the park’s green space and tree canopy. Vehicles emit particulate matter and noxious pollutants including carbon oxides, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons. These increased emissions would negatively impact air quality within the park. Idling vehicles would exacerbate the problem. Diesel power generators running for hours by commercial operators would further worsen air quality. There would also be a reduction in air quality simply from the loss of trees.
Replacing green space, plants, and trees with sunlight- and heat-absorbing surfaces like pavement, asphalt, and structures, as well as additional heat from human activities such as driving and idling vehicles and running equipment in the park, would create higher temperatures and exacerbate the urban heat island effect on hot summer days. Less vegetation in the park would reduce evaporative cooling, a natural process that helps cool air. Urban heat islands produce higher temperatures, increased demand for air conditioning and electricity, and heat-related illnesses. Increased temperatures also negatively affect trees, plants, and animals.
Noise from traffic on the proposed new road would degrade the natural soundscape of the park, disturbing wildlife and decreasing human enjoyment. Vehicles with blaring music or loud mufflers would be especially jarring. The loss of trees would decrease the buffering of traffic noise.
The noise level of large-scale commercial concerts would be particularly detrimental to residential neighbors, causing significant disturbances to their tranquility and quiet enjoyment of their residential property. Loud noise would also disturb animal life in the park, especially disrupting the lives of nocturnal animals during evening concerts.
Note: Residents near Holliday Park have repeatedly complained that the noise from the concerts there interferes with the use and enjoyment of their properties, but City officials express no concern and take no action.
The proposed new road would be built on green space, which would decrease areas in which to walk and run. Crowding would also cause special difficulty for the park’s many dogs and their walkers. Less ground to walk on would result in more canine "close encounters.” A walk or run in the park would become a little more like walking on city streets.
The construction of a new road to enable Broad Ripple Village Association's recurring farmers market or local concert promotion company Forty5's concert series (the underlying reason for the road) is essentially a private takeover, a commercial-use intrusion into a lovely park, with myriad negative impacts. Other commercial events would undoubtedly follow. Public parks should not serve private interests. The City’s responsibility is to serve community interests rather than prioritize the profitability of local businesses.
Indianapolis, as a thriving capital city and the economic engine of Indiana, should allocate funding for parks without resorting to commercialization and privatization, which would have detrimental consequences.
Note: BRVA’s farmers market, while it is popular with many, has multiple venue options. It does not NEED to operate in the public park. It only WANTS to operate there because it seeks a “permanent home” that would offer a more park-like setting than the available parking area near Glendale that it has been using.
Large-scale concerts would be very disruptive to park users’ recreation and enjoyment of the park, to wildlife, and to the residential quality of life of neighbors. Closing the park to prepare night concerts is unfair to park users. Light pollution and loud noise at night disturbs wildlife, especially nocturnal animals who hunt and forage for food at night. The noise emanating from concerts is extremely disturbing to neighbors.
Note: Residents of Meridian Hills, near Holliday Park, and the park itself, are currently struggling with the negative impacts of the 16 concerts in 2024. These concerts were organized by promoter, Forty5, LLC. With attendance numbers reaching up to 2,500, neighbors have expressed outrage about the strain these events place on the park infrastructure and the potential for damage that requires costly repairs. Indy Parks leadership has been resolutely insensitive to neighbors’ pleas for protecting the quiet enjoyment of their residential quality of life.
The promoters of the farmers market, concerts, and other large-scale events seek to attract thousands of attendees to the park. A small-scale concert or a farmers market in itself is not “a bad thing.” Are crowds of thousands a good thing?
Overextending the park’s usage capacity would endanger the entire quality of the park, including green infrastructure, plant and animal life, and human enjoyment. Potential damage to the park’s infrastructure could lead to costly repairs.
Crowds of thousands would present new negative impacts. There would likely be an increase in littering, vandalism, and crime. Alcohol permits were already approved by the Parks Board for so-called “experimental” concerts in Broad Ripple Park during summer 2025. Alcohol reduces inhibitions and unpredictable behaviors can follow. With large crowds, alcohol, and drugs that might be brought in, there is an increased risk to public safety.
Broad Ripple Park offers a scenic and tranquil escape from the urban hubbub, uncontrolled development, homogenous cityscape, and demands of urban life. Traffic on the proposed new road would disrupt the park’s tranquility and visually clutter the green space. Large-scale events would restrict access to certain areas in the park and would create a chaotic experience for park users. Opportunities for relaxation and peaceful enjoyment would be diminished.
The Proposed Impervious Surfaces illustration on page 85 of the 2018 Broad Ripple Park Master Plan shows approximately 14 acres of impervious surface where stormwater would not be absorbed into the ground. However, it does not indicate how many acres of that total would be new impervious surface.
Indianapolis stormwater requirements for detention would likely require underground stormwater detention basins to be installed. The master plan states, “… it is anticipated that the detention volume will need to be over four acre-feet for the entire park. To accommodate such a volume, the areas under the proposed southern parking lot and the event lawn / sports fields are recommended to be investigated. …”
Installing underground detention basins with a four-acre foot capacity will require massive earthwork, disrupting up to four acres of the park for many months, playing havoc with groundwater flow, and killing more trees, all at an immense cost.
The current Indy Parks budget cannot provide such a costly road. In December 2024, former Indy Parks Director Phyllis Boyd and now-retired Deputy Director Don Colvin advised the road proponents that the City would not fund a new road and if desired, it would have to be privately funded.
In recent years, Indianapolis has struggled to persuade the legislature to increase its authorized revenue for roads because of a huge shortfall, not for new or widened roads, but just for maintenance (e.g., “300,000 potholes/year”). In an Indy Star op-ed, Potholes are bankrupting Indianapolis (5-1-25), Indianapolis urban planner Jeffrey Tomkins concluded that, “The real issue in Indianapolis isn’t that we spend too little on roads; it’s that we’ve built too many of them.”
There are likely to be unforeseen costs, such as price increases, road maintenance, increased sanitation needs, increased litter, repair of vandalized property, and potential liability exposure, which would be an increased burden on taxpayers and the City of Indianapolis.
In seemingly infrastructure-insatiable Broad Ripple, at least two commercial entities—the Broad Ripple Village Association (farmers market) and Forty5, LLC (a local concert promotion company)—are strongly advocating for the new road and establishment of their large-scale events at the park.
As the new-road proponents seek private sources of funding, prospective donors will conduct due diligence and discover that a new road in the park is controversial at best, widely disliked at worst. And they will realize that they may not receive an appreciative public response for enabling the construction of a destructive road which many park users oppose.