INDIANAPOLIS -- The Board of Public Works today approved a contract for the design of a project which will rehabilitate portions of the Pleasant Run Greenway and extend the trail southwest to connections with the White River Trail and Troy Avenue. Paid for with funds from Mayor Joe Hogsett's Circle City Forward initiative, the Board awarded the work to DB Engineering, LLC, in the form of two contracts, totaling more than $800,000 and divided among three phases of work.

The scope of work includes designing the rehabilitation of trail segments along its current alignment adjacent to Pleasant Run between Ellenberger Park and Garfield Park on the city's near southeast side. Designers will also plan out the extension of the trail westward from Garfield Park to the intersection of Bluff Road, where connections will be made both north to the White River Trail at Raymond Street and south to Troy Avenue.

The construction of this trail improvement is also fully funded by the Circle City Forward initiative, for a total investment between design and construction estimated at greater than $6.6 million. Construction may be expected to start as early as spring of 2023, dependent on the design timeline.

This is the first contract approval of the nine trails and greenways projects funded by the third phase of Circle City Forward. Originally announced in February 2021 as a $190 million investment in enhancements to public facilities and aimed at improving local government services, Circle City Forward now includes subsequent phases comprising an additional $25 million investment targeting the improvement of residential roadways, and a further $25 million investment targeting trails and greenways improvements.

The Circle City Forward: Phase 3 investment will additionally fund the design or construction work for improvements to the Pogue's Run Trail; a second phase of the Eagle Creek Trail; the Nickel Plate Trail; the Grassy Creek Trail; a Connector between the Monon Trail and the Pogue's Run Trail; an Interurban Trail along Madison Avenue; a "road diet" and multimodal additions to E 21st Street; and multimodal upgrades to W 30th Street.