Cassandra Crutchfield held a picture of her 7-year-old daughter, Hannah, who was struck and killed by a driver while walking home from school on Washington Street in 2021. She also held a sign that read, “Prioritize safe streets.”
She joined numerous Indianapolis pedestrian safety organizations in a protest at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and North College Avenue. The protest called for city officials and the Indianapolis Department of Public Works (DPW) to take significantly stronger and more rapid action to solve Indianapolis’s ongoing pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities.
“I want to be a part of as many of these as possible to bring awareness to how unsafe our streets are around here for pedestrians and cyclists,” Crutchfield told IndyStar. “I just hope that our politicians are listening, and they need to prioritize keeping our streets safe for everybody.”
Around 50 people crowded outside 765 Massachusetts Ave. with signs and bicycles to rally and protest for pedestrian safety in the city. Jake Budler, an organizer, said their list of demands is more funding, a faster response from city officials, and an increase in transparency to the community.
More funding, priority and transparency
“Somebody was killed here almost 20 months ago, and since then, we’ve got some orange barricades,” Budler told the crowd, noting it took months to get the barricades filled with water after they were placed. “I’ve got about 150 emails with DPW since March of this year, trying to figure out what’s going on here.”
Budler said the intersection epitomizes the safety crisis on city streets.
Aside from more funding compared to how much other cities invest in their streets, Budler said organizers are asking for better leadership under Mayor Joe Hogsett. He said leaders need to prioritize a serious issue that they feel keeps getting overlooked.
“We’ve got Vision Zero. Great,” Budler said. “But what does that mean, right? We need less press releases and we need more public works.”
Indiana Senator Andrea Hunley spoke to the crowd and shared that she and her pet dog, Reggie, were walking across 10th Street about seven months ago, when they were both hit by a car that was making a left turn and wasn’t paying attention.
“We should all be able to walk, bike, roll, stroll and ride safely on our streets,” Hunley said. “I’m proud that as a state senator, we were able to get an additional $50 million dedicated to Indianapolis to support our roadways, but we know that it’s going to take our friends at the city council to also put in $50 million.”
Hunley said that Vision Zero hearings have been happening at the City-County Building, but they haven’t allowed for public comment, which doesn’t support transparency.
“They’re not meeting regularly and sharing the data,” Hunley said. “We want to know what’s happening, what are you focused on, and why. And we also want the work done faster.”
She said it shouldn’t take months to get barricades filled with water.
Vision Zero Action Plan in progress
City officials, experts, and community members have been collaborating with Burgess & Niple consultants to create their Vision Zero Action Plan to curb pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries on the city’s streets. The plan is looking at designing better streets that would prioritize safety.
The Indianapolis Vision Zero Taskforce has been analyzing traffic data, listening to public feedback, and recommending strategies for the past year, and is looking to adopt the plan in a reconvened meeting on Dec. 2, 2025.
The meeting will be in the Public Assembly Room at the City-County Council Building at 4 p.m.
Jade Jackson is a Public Safety Reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Safe Streets protest calls for more funding, priority and transparency
Reporting by Jade Jackson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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