The Indianapolis Cultural Trail: America’s Next-Gen Protected Bike Lanes

In May, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, a bike and pedestrian path connecting some of Indy’s most popular cultural institutions, had its long-awaited public coming out with a ribbon cutting and celebration. It’s one of the biggest bicycling infrastructure achievements in North America, and yet it’s still practically a secret.

As you’ll see, the Cultural Trail runs eight fantastic miles through the heart of downtown and features beautiful stone work, green landscaping, and even bioswales to absorb stormwater runoff. There is great signage and trail design with an eye for maximum safety. In many places, parking and/or a car travel lane was converted to trail space. But most importantly, the trail features ample room for both cyclists and pedestrians (most of the time in separate environments) to get around downtown, whether they’re commuting, exercising, running errands, or just going for an afternoon jaunt. It’s fun and very safe and people of all ages using it.

Across the U.S., cities such as NYC, Chicago, and Washington are doing tremendous work installing miles of protected bike lanes with inexpensive materials. Although the Cultural Trail cost quite a bit, it’s nice to know that to find extensive downtown bike infrastructure made with beautiful, permanent materials, we don’t have to look to Europe. We can go check out Indianapolis.