Dear Indiana Government Leaders and Marion County City Leaders,

As residents of Marion County and as residents of surrounding areas who work in or frequently visit Indianapolis, we are asking you to re-evaluate how you fund Indianapolis public streets. So many of our roads are in terrible shape and we are especially concerned about our residential and neighborhood subdivision roads that are an embarrassment and safety hazard to our residents. Most of those roads are at least 25 years old and because there is never enough money in the budget, most have never been resurfaced.  They have just had pothole upon pothole filled until the area has become a big bumpy, holey mess that continues to get worse each spring and costs more and more to repair.  The deteriorating roads are an obstacle to drive through and detract from the neighborhood aesthetics and our home property values.  

We take issue with the way Road Funding in Indiana is allocated. From our understanding, Marion County’s allotment from the State of the gas, excise and wheel taxes that fund the construction and repair of city roads is determined by a State formula that takes into consideration centerline miles rather than lane miles. Centerline miles represent the total length of a given road from its starting point to its end point. The number and size of the lanes on that road are ignored when calculating its centerline mileage.  Lane miles are calculated by multiplying the centerline mileage of a road by the number of lanes it has. Lane mileage provides a total amount of mileage covered by lanes belonging to a specific road. In some cases centerline miles are being phased out in preference of lane miles. However, that is not the case in Indiana.  

This formula means that Marion County, with its many multi-lane roads, is inadequately funded compared to smaller counties whose roads are primarily two-lane roads.  There are about 8400 lanes miles of roads in Marion County including major thoroughfares and residential street segments.  This constitutes about 30% of INDOT’s (the State’s) total inventory of roads and streets.  However, because of the current budget allocation formula set by the State Legislature, Marion County receives only about 8 – 10% of the State’s total budget annually.  An allocation of just 10% of INDOT’s total budget to address 30% of the State’s inventory will always result in major funding challenges for Indianapolis until this issue is addressed at the State level.  

We are also troubled that some of the $3B in state surplus money isn’t being used to help address the Indianapolis road situation and are concerned that the Federal Infrastructure Bill funding that will become available will not be sufficiently allocated to address our neighborhood streets in Indianapolis.  

According to an Indianapolis Star article by Kayla Dwyer dated 3/20/22, Indianapolis DPW would need an extra $1.07B every year to build up and maintain its transportation infrastructure.  In 2022, the Department was only able to budget $164M for the transportation capital plan due to inadequate funding that disproportionally disadvantages dense urban areas.  

Our City-County Councilors and DPW can only do so much with the meager funds they receive each year from the State to repair our roads.  We are asking you to work together to change the funding formula to be more equitable for Marion County and its residents and to find creative ways to get more funding allocated for Indianapolis neighborhood streets.   

We are weary of seeing and experiencing the danger and annoyance of the streets in disrepair, complaining about them year after year, and feeling like we have no voice or influence to change things for the better.   We are counting on you all to represent us, take action on our behalf, and find a solution so that the State’s funding is fairly applied throughout Indiana and so that Marion County gets the necessary funds to adequately repair our neighborhood roadways. 

Please help make things right.  

Sincerely, 

Sandy Frauhiger 

Branch Creek at Pike HOA President (Senate District 29, House District 86)

tsfrauhiger@att.net