Street closures to provide socially distanced space along Broad Ripple Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue and Georgia Street have been extended another time.
In a news release Wednesday, the Indianapolis Department of Public Works announced the dense commercial segments of the roads would remain closed to traffic through Labor Day weekend.
The streets were first closed in May through the city’s Dine Out Indy initiative to support outdoor dining during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The initiative partially closed streets and eliminated hundreds of parking spaces. Traffic is blocked off on Broad Ripple Avenue from the Monon Trail to College Avenue; Massachusetts Avenue from Delaware Street to College Avenue; and Georgia Street from Illinois to Pennsylvania streets.
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The streets were scheduled to reopen to traffic Monday, and it’s not the first time the closures have been extended.
“As we continue to evaluate public health data and monitor pedestrian counts, we believe the volume of visitors to Broad Ripple Avenue, Georgia Street, and Mass Ave continue to warrant additional space to safely distance within these street segments,” Department of Public Works Director Dan Parker said in the release.
The decision to reopen the streets will come from public health data, pedestrian count data and feedback from merchants associations, according to the department.
The department is also working to bring more parking to the Mass Ave area.
An extension to the executive order continuing the closures will be signed by the end of the week.
Contact IndyStar Pulliam Fellow Madison O’Connor at mfoconnor@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @madisonoconn.
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