The contentious Senate Bill 52, which aimed to ban dedicated lanes in Indianapolis for a year, threatening the future of IndyGo's Blue Line, is no more. With its demise, IndyGo can now move forward with its plans for mass transit, though adjustments to its original vision are inevitable.
House Speaker Todd Huston announced that an agreement had been reached with city and IndyGo officials, which allowed the bill to be dropped. In exchange, IndyGo committed to maintaining two lanes of traffic in each direction on Washington Street. This concession may lead to fewer dedicated transit lanes than initially proposed but will help keep traffic flowing in both directions.
"In meeting with IndyGo and city officials, we were able to find common ground that included updating the Blue Line plans to prioritize traffic flow while still making improvements along Washington Street to better accommodate the mass transit system," Huston stated. "By keeping at least two lanes of traffic flow going both east and west, whenever possible, we can limit congestion and the negative impacts on local businesses.".
Republican leaders previously defended Senate Bill 52, arguing that delaying work on Washington Street was logical until lawmakers had a chance to discuss broader road funding concerns during the 2025 budget-writing session. Among the possibilities floated was the state re-acquiring Washington Street, which was once a state highway.
While the bill is dead, those road funding discussions will still move forward, Huston emphasized.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and other city leaders wasted no time in celebrating the bill’s end. Hogsett praised Speaker Huston for working with the city and IndyGo to find a compromise. "I extend my thanks to Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston for working with IndyGo and the City to come to this commitment. I am grateful for the many community members who continued to show up and advocate for this transformative investment for our city," Hogsett said.
The negotiations behind the scenes were intense. Huston confirmed that talks had been ongoing for some time. The day before the bill’s collapse, Indianapolis officials were seen in the Statehouse, engaging in closed-door meetings with House leadership and Senate Bill 52’s author, Senator Aaron Freeman of Indianapolis.
Once the House adjourned on Thursday, Huston told reporters that the priority had always been maintaining two lanes of traffic on Washington Street. Although specific details of the changes to the Blue Line plan are yet to be revealed, he assured that the "vast majority" of Washington Street will preserve two general traffic lanes in each direction.
"I think we got to a solution that met the needs of everybody," Huston remarked. "This was not a one-day dialogue. We’ve been thinking about this and talking about this. I think it’s the right compromise for all parties."
The debate over Senate Bill 52 sparked intense and impassioned testimony in the Statehouse. Advocates for the Blue Line's original plans, which were endorsed by Marion County voters in the 2016 transit tax referendum, far outnumbered supporters of the bill. Interestingly, several Irvington businesses that initially backed the bill changed their stance, siding with those opposing it.
IndyGo had argued that the bill, even as a temporary measure, would jeopardize a $150 million federal grant they are slated to receive this fall. Losing the grant would have placed the entire project in peril.
The efforts to protect the Blue Line were spearheaded by local leaders, including District 13 City Councilman Jesse Brown and Clif Marsiglio, a former Democratic candidate for Mayor of Indianapolis. Together, they led grassroots efforts to rally support for the bus lanes, mobilizing community members to ensure that the Blue Line stayed on track.
In an interesting twist, IndyStar journalist James Briggs initially told Brown and Marsiglio to abandon the fight. Yet, after the bill was killed, Briggs took the lion’s share of the credit in his article, prompting a stir among the advocates.
The future of IndyGo’s Blue Line now rests in how the transit system adapts its plans to meet the terms of the compromise. While dedicated lanes may be fewer, the Blue Line project itself will live on, with the possibility of transforming public transit in Indianapolis.