30th Street Bridge opens on the west side after long delays

(MIRROR INDY) — Amber Toombs has been a resident of the Riverside neighborhood on the west side since 2014. But for a quarter of the time she’s lived there, she’s been unable to cross the 30th Street Bridge.

The historic bridge was built in 1908 and rehabilitated in 1979. Decades of use and breakdown of the limestone wore the bridge down to the point where another rehabilitation was required.

But the rehabilitation, which was scheduled to begin in 2020, experienced several delays that extended preparations and construction time by several years. Construction on the bridge began in 2022, which required the bridge to close.

Peoples’ patience for the project to be completed wore down faster than the bridge did. For many, the bridge closure resulted in them having to take miles-long detours to reach a spot 200 feet away.

“It closed forever ago,” Toombs said. “They said it was only going to be like one year, and it’s just added so much time onto this community’s commute.”

When westsiders got the chance to cross the bridge for the first time this week, some shouted “Hallelujah” from their vehicles as they crossed and others let their dogs do the celebrating by barking out open windows.

“I’m glad it’s finally open. I know it took time, but they really made sure it came out nice. So, I appreciate that,” Toombs said.

What took so long?

After years of rehabilitation, the bridge looks almost exactly the same as it did before the project started. That’s on purpose.

The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Indianapolis Park and Boulevard System, which was designed by landscape architect George Kessler in 2003. Crews sought to modernize it while keeping as much of the original bridge as possible.

The project used the existing foundation but replaced portions of the arches. Crews reused the original limestone exterior by reassembling them piece by piece. They also used lighting fixtures that looked like the original ones.

Toombs thinks the crews did a good job with the bridge, but she shared a sentiment felt by many westside residents during the construction.

“I’m glad it’s back up, but it feels like it didn’t need to take this long,” Toombs said.

The project experienced several major delays before construction began and at its onset, pushing back the project by about two years.

Then federally protected barn swallows made their nest on the bridge, forcing workers to wait until after their nesting season to remove the nests and begin construction.

Once work began, engineers found the bridge was in worse condition than originally believed. New parts were needed, adding about a year to the timeline. Once the parts arrived, they were found to have defects that needed repairs and modifications. That slowed down work even more.

More bridge woes ahead

The opening of the 30th Street Bridge isn’t the end of bridge-based traffic woes on the west side. Some bridge construction remains. The Department of Public Works says the entire 30th Street Bridge project won’t be complete until May.

DPW will also begin a project to extend the life of the 16th Street Bridge over the White River in June.

The pothole-covered deck of the bridge will be replaced and the substructure, the part that holds the bridge up, will be rehabilitated.

The project will require the bridge to close for about two years, during which time many residents will have to take a detour across the 30th Street Bridge.

“It’s gonna be a popular bridge,” Toombs said.

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Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on Bluesky at @enriquesaenz.bsky.social.