The Proposed FULLY FUNDED Fall Creek Greenway Extension:

Connecting Lee Rd at 63rd St to the Upper Loop Trail at Geist Crossing

In December of 2023, the DNR’s Next Level Trail Program* granted a maximum award of $5M to the partnership of the City of Lawrence, the city of Indianapolis, and Indy’s Urban Wilderness for A Fall Creek Greenway extension.

With over $2M in matching funds from some very generous trail advocates**, the $7M project is fully funded.

Engineering and design are underway with members of Resolution Group, Inc., an Indianapolis-based and women-owned civil engineering firm, at work now: this is necessary before construction bids can be sought and requires several lengthy steps, including surveys, coordination with utilities and the connecting DPW infrastructure, local and state permitting, and drafting the plans.

IUW supporters will get detailed updates and be the first to know when the all-important question can be answered:

“When will I be able to walk(run, bike, etc.) on the new trail?

Why the Fall Creek Greenway?

When completed, this 22-mile regional connector will be the longest (and most beautiful) greenway in Marion County!

The route links downtown Indianapolis to Fort Harrison State Park, the City of Lawrence, and Geist. It provides connections to the White River Trail, Central Canal Tow Path, Monon Trail, and the Hamilton County greenways system at 96th and Fall Creek Rd.

IUW TARGETED THE COMPLETION OF THE FALL CREEK GREENWAY IN NORTHEAST INDIANAPOLIS BECAUSE IT WILL SERVE AS THE BACKBONE OF CONNECTIVITY INFRASTRUCTURE IN LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP. Once it's built, if you CAN GET TO IT, YOU CAN REACH THE REST OF THE regional GREENWAY SYSTEM!

Background: The idea of the FCG dates back to 1908 and George Kessler’s Park and Boulevard Plan. His vision was to use the area’s natural water features to create beautiful linear parks for public benefit. His comprehensive plan was delayed after his death and the Great Depression. After WWII, emphasis was placed on infrastructure for automobiles. In the 1980s, renewed interest in greenways led to the creation of a master plan for Indianapolis based on Kessler’s original plan (incorporating several abandoned train routes). When development finally began, the Fall Creek Greenway was one of the first two experimental greenway segments built in 1996. Since then, it has been added to segments, with much of it now completed. Development of the latest segment was stalled due to the lack of coordination among three government agencies. An approximately 3-mile gap remains between the Loop Trail at Fall Creeks and Hamilton County’s Greenway network.

Note: the Fall Creek Greenway has been built in segments since the 1990s and is already complete from downtown to the west side of Fort Harrison. Combined with the new City of Lawrence Trail (funded and currently being built from the Fort’s main/east side entrance to Forest Glen Elementary School at 63rd and Lee Rd), Fall Creek Greenway will connect from the Upper Fall Creek Loop Trail to Lawrence, Fort Harrison, the Monon, White River Parkway, the Canal Tow Path, downtown, and on and on!

*NLT is a part of Governor Holcomb’s broader Next Level Connections infrastructure program which is intended to encourage collaborative efforts to accelerate trail connections.  Funding for the fourth round, $30 million, was announced on May 11th, 2023, expanding the largest infusion of Trails Funding in Indiana’s History to $180M.

**The Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) of Indianapolis provided a $1.75 million donation as a part of the Connected Communities Initiative, made possible by a grant by Lilly Endowment Inc. Other major contributions came from the Fort Harrison Reuse Authority, and IUW Members.

We Thank Mayor Steve Collier and his staff, the City of Lawrence Parks & Recreation, the City County Councilperson for District 4, Ethan Evans, the Indiana State Representative for District 87, Carey Hamilton, and the more than 200 of you who made financial contributions, attended our Supporter's Event at AJ’s Bar and Grill, and wrote letters and emails.