The City of Indianapolis is spending this fall and next spring making 86th Street at Nora safer to cross on foot. That work sits at the northeast corner of Meridian Hills. About a mile and a half south, inside the town, a sidewalk along 75th Street has been planned since before the pandemic, and its next phase has no money behind it. Both projects deal with the same issue: getting people across busy roads without a car. The city's project at Nora has a contractor, a detour and a finish date. The town's project has a donation fund.
That difference explains most of what has changed on the errand run to ALDI or Total Wine this month, and why the corner will look different again by 2030.
What is different at 86th and the Monon right now
The Indianapolis Department of Public Works is rebuilding the medians on 86th Street as part of its 86th Street Pedestrian Safety Improvements project. The city describes the project as running from College Avenue to the North Central High School access road, including the Westfield Boulevard, Nora Corners, Evergreen Avenue and Guilford Avenue intersections. WFYI reported on October 7 that the median work stretches from Meridian Street to Allisonville Road.
The changes you'll see on a drive through Nora this week:
- Lanes. 86th Street is down to one lane in each direction while the medians are replaced. It goes back to two lanes each way when the work is done.
- The Monon Trail. Walkers and cyclists are detoured along existing sidewalks to the Evergreen Avenue signal.
- Nora Corners Shopping Center. The 86th Street entrance east of the Monon is right-in, right-out only.
- The medians themselves. The new medians between College Avenue and Westfield Boulevard will be planted with grass and will include a refuge island for trail users crossing at the Monon.
Early reactions were mixed. As work got underway, drivers told WISH that the work arrived with little warning and that losing lanes was inconvenient. One cyclist described close calls with drivers on the detour route, and another called the intersection one of the most dangerous in the city, saying "they almost can't make it worse."
The left turn into Nora Corners is not coming back
DPW says the right-in, right-out limit at Nora Corners will stay after construction. According to WFYI, the traffic light that now leads into the shopping center will be removed, and the median will extend across the space where that intersection is now. The signal moves a few yards west, where it will stop traffic for people crossing on the Monon.
That matters for anyone who has made a left out of the lot for years. Nora Corners is home to ALDI at 1440 E. 86th St. and Total Wine at 1460 E. 86th St. Once the work is done, a trip there means coming in from the eastbound side of 86th and leaving the same way. You'll get to those stores the same way during the work and after it.
The city's reason is about who gets across. WFYI reported nine pedestrian and cyclist crashes in recent years between College Avenue and the North Central High School entrance. Daniel Stevenson, DPW's deputy director of policy and planning, told the station:
"One loss of life is too many. Everybody deserves to be able to make it home safely at the end of the day."
The rest of the redesign follows the same idea. At Westfield Boulevard, raised crosswalks, which the city calls "speed tables," go in on the eastbound and westbound right-turn lanes. They apply only to turning traffic, not to through traffic on 86th or Westfield. At College, Guilford, Evergreen, Westfield and the North Central entrance, the plans call for ADA-compliant curb ramps, new pedestrian push buttons, video detection, and signal heads with reflective backplates that make them easier to see.
The calendar from here to the bridge
The median work is only the first step in a timeline that runs into the next decade. The two sources give different end dates for the first phase. DPW's project page targets the end of October 2026. WFYI reported that the median work is expected to wrap up by the end of the year.
| When | What happens at Nora |
|---|---|
| Late October to end of 2026 | Phase One medians finish, per DPW and WFYI |
| Q4 2026 to Q2 2027 | Phase Two adds curb ramps, crosswalks, drive approaches, new pavement markings and signal work, with a Monon detour like the current one |
| April 2027 | DPW's expected completion for the full project |
| Spring 2027 | Sheetz breaks ground on its first Indiana store at 1505 E. 86th St. |
| Late summer 2027 | Sheetz expected to open, with about 30 employees |
| Q4 2029 to Q4 2030 | A grade-separated Monon Trail crossing over 86th Street |
The Sheetz news came from Fox59 on September 29. The chain has more than 850 stores in seven other states. Not every change at Nora is an arrival, though. The Indianapolis Business Journal reported in late September that Moody's Butcher Shop plans to leave Nora for a new spot in Broad Ripple.
The bridge is the last step. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization's $35.5 million award to DPW in May 2025 covered several projects, including a separated Monon crossing over 86th Street, WISH reported. WTHR put the Nora bridge at an estimated $7 million, with federal funding supporting construction in 2030. The city's major transportation projects list names it "Monon Trail over 86th Street TAP FY2030." So the street-level crossing being built now is a fix for roughly the next three years, until the bridge takes trail users off 86th Street entirely.
Inside the town, along 75th Street, the funding isn't there
The 86th Street project has federal money and a city department behind it. The 75th Street sidewalk inside Meridian Hills depends on what the town can raise. The clearest account of where it stands is the council's sidewalk discussion at its September 14, 2026 meeting, as recorded in the town's official minutes.
Council Member Jacoby gave the history. CrossRoad Engineers studied town streets between 2017 and 2019 to decide where sidewalks should go. Phase 1 is built, and the town had the right-of-way it needed for Phase 2. Phase 3 crosses property the town doesn't own. Jacoby reported significant progress on those rights-of-way in the prior 30 days. One section still needs the City of Indianapolis to approve removing a deceleration lane.
Then came the numbers. Phase 3 would cost about $400,000, and the town doesn't have it. The final phase is estimated at roughly $2 million. According to the minutes, the City's 50% match is available only if the project is approved. Council Member Gordon said the City had told the town it is cutting funding and that sidewalks in Meridian Hills are not a priority. Gordon also said he expects the next section of right-of-way to be secured within 60 days of the meeting, which points to mid-November. Council Member Marr said a sidewalk donation fund has been set up and is ready to take contributions, and Council President Freihofer said Park Tudor School is willing to work with the town.
Why the town's streets get paved and its sidewalk waits
The town's other infrastructure business at the same meeting shows how the money works. Meridian Hills pays for repaving largely through INDOT's Community Crossings Matching Grant program. Town Engineer Borden said that if the town's CCMG 2027-1 application succeeds, every street in Meridian Hills will have been resurfaced since 2024. All three priorities in that application would cost $87,219, against $65,000 in the town's budget, so the council voted 5-0 to apply for Priorities 1 and 2. Borden said the program is becoming more competitive and that funding isn't guaranteed.
In the sidewalk discussion, Jacoby noted that the town can't use CCMG road money to build sidewalks. The same state program that can get every street in town repaved can't pay for a sidewalk on 75th. So the town's road surfaces are close to fully redone, and Phase 3 of its sidewalk waits on donations and a city match that depends on the project being approved first.
The council also cleared one more change on the town's busier streets. It approved Second Presbyterian Church's new electronic monument sign with conditions. Images can change no faster than every 30 seconds. Overnight, the sign shows one static image on a black background, timed to sunrise and sunset. It won't carry third-party commercial content, and the church's vinyl banners go away once the new sign is running.
For now, getting from Meridian Hills to the Monon at Nora on foot means using the Evergreen Avenue detour through April 2027. The right-in, right-out entrance at Nora Corners stays after that. The next 75th Street update to watch for is the right-of-way section Council Member Gordon expected by mid-November.
If changes like the new Nora Corners access have you thinking about how getting around affects your home's value or your next move, The O'Connor Team is happy to talk it through, with no pressure and plenty of local context. Get in Touch.
