Indianapolis Meet (7/10-7/11)

[DanTheMan414]

Trailing on the heels of a successful 2-day gathering last year in Chicago, we're going to be doing another 2-dayer in the Great Lakes region here this summer.  This year's destination: Indianapolis.  This is the first time (as far as I know) that a gathering has been done in Indiana's capital city, and there are a lot of interesting things to check out on the roads front in the area.

The dates for the Indianapolis meet are going to be Fri., 7/10 and Sat., 7/11.  For a bit of a different twist, our tour on Fri., 7/10 will head southwesterly from Indianapolis, to cover the general corridor that the future extension of I-69 will take.  On the way back, we will travel through the SPUI interchange between I-65 and SR 46 in Columbus, IN, which features a type of bridge you don't see everyday -- tied-arch.  On Sat., 7/11, we will focus more on roads and projects of note more within the immediate Indianapolis area.  This year, the event will most likely conclude with the end of the tour on Saturday, but will start on Thursday evening, 7/09, for those of you who come into town (or are already in town) early.  Our evening events on 7/09 & 7/10 will give you a little flair for what the Indianapolis area has to offer, similar to what we did when we hit Ed Debevic's and Navy Pier in the evenings in Chicago last year. 

Logistics are still being worked on right now, including the lodging base, tour routing and stops, the evening events and more.  I will post more information on these things, especially on the area where our base meet-up point will be, in the coming days.  We hope you'll be able to join us for what promises to be a fun weekend on the roads of the Indianapolis region, if even for only one of the two days.  (Last year, we had about 7 of us that were there the entire weekend, and then one person who came for Friday's festivities around Chicago, and 7 that joined us for the Milwaukee tour that Saturday.)

If you are interested in joining us in Indy, please let me know, either by posting here, or messaging me.  Also, if you have any suggestions for either of the tours, please pass those along as well.  Thanks, and we hope to see you for the 2009 Indianapolis Roads Event!

[hbelkins]

Logistics are still being worked on right now, including the lodging base, tour routing and stops, the evening events and more.  I will post more information on these things, especially on the area where our base meet-up point will be, in the coming days.  We hope you'll be able to join us for what promises to be a fun weekend on the roads of the Indianapolis region, if even for only one of the two days.  (Last year, we had about 7 of us that were there the entire weekend, and then one person who came for Friday's festivities around Chicago, and 7 that joined us for the Milwaukee tour that Saturday.)

Excellent! I will be anxiously awaiting the announcement of the daily meet-up point, as I need to get reservations made and have two free Microtel nights I'd like to redeem for this meet if things work out.

For side trips, when we head down to the Evansville area, we could always check out the twin bridges on US 41 that cross the Ohio River from Kentucky into Kentucky (the state line is north of the river at that point and the river is entirely in Kentucky) and possibly the US 231 cable-stayed bridge crossing the Ohio River upriver from Owensboro. There was construction in the area of US 231 and I-64 last year and that might still be ongoing.

Please let us know ASAP where the daily meet-up point will be so reservations can be made. My plan is to come up Thursday night after a circuitous and as-yet-to-be-determined route to Indy, spend Thursday and Friday nights in Indy, and then depart for home as soon as Saturday's festivities are over, probably overnighting in the Cincy area Saturday night.

[hbelkins]

The good news is, I cashed in two free nights and my stay in Indy won't cost me a dime.

The bad news is, I didn't have much of a choice in where I got to stay. As a result I am on North Michigan Road, off I-465 at Exit 27 on the north side of town. I'm presuming that this will probably be across town from where the daily meetup site will be. Oh well, as long as someone familiar with Indy traffic can give me tips on the best way to avoid traffic jams to get from my motel to where we meet up each day, it'll be OK.

[rawmustard]

The good news is, I cashed in two free nights and my stay in Indy won't cost me a dime.

The bad news is, I didn't have much of a choice in where I got to stay. As a result I am on North Michigan Road, off I-465 at Exit 27 on the north side of town. I'm presuming that this will probably be across town from where the daily meetup site will be. Oh well, as long as someone familiar with Indy traffic can give me tips on the best way to avoid traffic jams to get from my motel to where we meet up each day, it'll be OK.

Even with the ongoing construction on the west side, if the meet site is also located off the beltway, your best bet would be to use the beltway unless you choose to explore the local streets. I would expect that normally the worst congestion would be near the airport.

[Alps]

Moved it back a week, eh?  I'll have to clear it with Boss Man.  Still should be OK - I'm just itching to get out and drive again!

[hbelkins]

Any updates on the activities, daily meet-up site, etc.?

I've already got my trip north planned on Thursday. Gonna get all the tier of counties one county west of the Ohio state line on the way up, all the way to Noble County, then south along the next tier of counties west.

Counties to be visited include Jennings, Rush, Fayette, Henry, Delaware, Blackford, Wells, Huntington, Whitley, Noble, Kosciusko, Wabash, Grant, Madison and Hancock.

[A.J. Bertin]

I'm looking forward to this meet! See you guys there.

[DanTheMan414]

Well, July is almost here, and the Indy meet is fast approaching!  The two-day event is taking place on Fri., 7/10, which will feature a corridor tour of the future I-69 southwest of Indianapolis...and much more, as well as on Sat., 7/11, which will highlight freeways, roadways and projects of note in the Indianapolis area.

Our base of operations each day will be at the northwestern US 421 interchange off of I-465 (Michigan Rd., Exit #27)...specific destination TBA.  I'm figuring, right now, we'll probably kick things off around 9:00 AM EDT each day.  Also, we're currently working on feature spots for Thursday & Friday evenings around the Indianapolis area, including hitting the vicinity of the Indianapolis Speedway one of those nights.  I will aim to get that info up by this weekend.

We hope to see some of you out there for some fun in the Indiana sun...well, at least hopefully not in the rain.  Remember, as things are set up, if you can't make it out for the entire event, we hope you will be able to join us for either one tour or the other.  Please message me, or post here, if you are able to join us for either day or both days, or if you have any suggestions for either tour, or for our evening events.

Thanks.  See you at Indy!

[hbelkins]

Our base of operations each day will be at the northwestern US 421 interchange off of I-465 (Michigan Rd., Exit #27)...specific destination TBA.  I'm figuring, right now, we'll probably kick things off around 9:00 AM EDT each day.  Also, we're currently working on feature spots for Thursday & Friday evenings around the Indianapolis area, including hitting the vicinity of the Indianapolis Speedway one of those nights.  I will aim to get that info up by this weekend.

Might I humbly suggest the Microtel Inn, 9140 North Michigan Road? By coincidence, that's where I am staying! :-)

This is good news for me since when I asked to redeem my free nights I put the one on Rockville Road as my first choice and it was full, and they gave me Michigan Road as my second choice. So I will be in the area already with my overnight accommodations and will be able to get to the meet site in only a matter of minutes with no crosstown travel required.

[rawmustard]

We hope to see some of you out there for some fun in the Indiana sun...well, at least hopefully not in the rain.  Remember, as things are set up, if you can't make it out for the entire event, we hope you will be able to join us for either one tour or the other.  Please message me, or post here, if you are able to join us for either day or both days, or if you have any suggestions for either tour, or for our evening events.

I left a message with my dad about the meet. Hopefully, we can talk more about it when I see him this weekend, but if he plans to be in town and offers me the guest room, then I'd most likely be down for it. It must be most people are getting rooms near Michigan and I-465, and I could do the same should Dad not want to offer his place. Dad may want to attend Saturday's events (he most likely would have to work Friday).

As for stuff to do in Indy, it has quite a vibrant downtown, and I'm sure there'll be something to please just about everyone. As for the Speedway museum, I can't imagine that it's open later than 5pm, but then I'd have to check to be sure. The NCAA is also headquartered in Indianapolis, and it has a museum located along the White River Park.

[mightyace]

I've thought about it, being less than a day's drive.

However, I'm not considering it unless I can get my station wagon fixed.  It currently has overheating issues.  (Cooling fan)  But, it's the only vehicle I have with working AC.

I'm currently driving my full size Chevy van.  It gets worse gas mileage than the SW (12-15 for the van, 18-20 for the SW) plus the AC is not working in the Van.

However, if I can get the AC solved or it's a fall meet, it would be good for daily outings as it is a conversion van with four Captain's chairs and plus a rear seat.

[hbelkins]

Please message me, or post here, if you are able to join us for either day or both days, or if you have any suggestions for either tour, or for our evening events.

I may have mentioned this earlier, but there's a lot of potential with Friday's drive down to the Evansville area.

We could check out the US 41 twin bridges, that cross the Ohio River from Kentucky into Kentucky. The state line is not the river at this location; the river lies entirely within Kentucky. Then we could head east along the Audubon Parkway and US 60 and cross back into Indiana upstream of Owensboro on the new US 231 cable-stayed bridge and check out US 231 construction on I-64 before heading over to I-65.

As for evening activities, I have no recommendations, as I don't know what time I will be getting there on Thursday. Depends how quickly I get my county collecting trip done and get into town.

Any idea on what time we'll be done on Saturday?

[SSOWorld]

We could check out the US 41 twin bridges, that cross the Ohio River from Kentucky into Kentucky. The state line is not the river at this location; the river lies entirely within Kentucky. Then we could head east along the Audubon Parkway and US 60 and cross back into Indiana upstream of Owensboro on the new US 231 cable-stayed bridge and check out US 231 construction on I-64 before heading over to I-65.

There are two Kentucky's?

[mobilene]

If you're going to follow the I-69 corridor, know that the SR 37 portion between Indy and Bloomington has several old alignments lurking about if you like that sort of thing.

Also, staying on Michigan Road is appropriate for roadfans -- Michigan Road was Indiana's first state-funded road, built in the 1830s.  It runs from Madison to Michigan City.  You can still drive all of it today, although I-74 was built over about 5 miles of it southeast of Indy.

jim

[DanTheMan414]

Tomorrow night is the kickoff for the big Indy meet!  We'll be heading to the 86th Street Pub for our kickoff meet-and-greet then, followed by our I-69 corridor tour (featuring a few bridges of note) on Friday, and the Indy area tour on Saturday.  Please message me, or post here, by tomorrow morning if you're able to attend either Friday or Saturday...or both.  We hope to see you there!

[rawmustard]

And just for everyone's information, the address of the pub is 3661 W 86th St. It's located just west of Michigan Road in a strip mall and fairly close to where most of the attendees that I know are staying (which, maybe not so coincidentally, is the meetup point each morning). I look forward to seeing everyone who comes to the meet this weekend.

[Chris]

Any updates, stories or anecdotes? 

[PAHighways]

Any fender benders?

[hbelkins]

Any fender benders?

No, just a lot of rain on Saturday and a very long day on Friday.

[rawmustard]

No, just a lot of rain on Saturday and a very long day on Friday.

Some of us even had a long day on Saturday as well. And I know I had a long day Sunday, but much of that was spent walking around downtown Fort Wayne and happening upon the Three Rivers Festival/Chalk Walk. Much of this week will likely be spent catching up on sleep and sorting through all the photos taken Sunday. Maybe I'll even get around to writing up a trip report.

[hbelkins]

Some of us even had a long day on Saturday as well. And I know I had a long day Sunday, but much of that was spent walking around downtown Fort Wayne and happening upon the Three Rivers Festival/Chalk Walk. Much of this week will likely be spent catching up on sleep and sorting through all the photos taken Sunday. Maybe I'll even get around to writing up a trip report.

I decided to head west on US 40 a bit to pick up a few counties. I actually ended up getting behind you guys right before you turned right onto some local street, but I can't remember where. I ended up going all the way to IND 46 and then went over to I-70 and headed back east. Hopped off I-74 onto US 421 and took that back to Kentucky, then KY 36 to Carrollton and I-71 north to Florence where I had a room reserved for the night. Only missed 30 laps of the race. :-)

[rawmustard]

Did you happen to see that cruiser wrapped around a tree? Yep, we were following several old alignments, and some of them are marked with those "Historic National Road" markers. And like a lot of bridges, you can only get a true appreciation of their magnificence by looking under them, which Steve and I did for a couple (and understanding completely why Brian and my dad didn't try to climb down. You probably were wise to drive separately, as we didn't get back to Indy until almost 9 pm (we came back via US 36 through Parke County and ventured through a few of the many covered bridges). Then Steve and I went out Washington into Hancock County and ventured back on I-70, where at some point the Sportage ticked its 10,000th mile finally stopping for free Slurpees when we saw a 7-11 at Post Road. We wandered back through Indy, stopping off at 86th Street Pub for the last 30 laps of the race and realizing why those "post-meet" gatherings don't happen all that often. 

[hbelkins]

Did you happen to see that cruiser wrapped around a tree? Yep, we were following several old alignments, and some of them are marked with those "Historic National Road" markers. And like a lot of bridges, you can only get a true appreciation of their magnificence by looking under them, which Steve and I did for a couple (and understanding completely why Brian and my dad didn't try to climb down. You probably were wise to drive separately, as we didn't get back to Indy until almost 9 pm (we came back via US 36 through Parke County and ventured through a few of the many covered bridges). Then Steve and I went out Washington into Hancock County and ventured back on I-70, where at some point the Sportage ticked its 10,000th mile finally stopping for free Slurpees when we saw a 7-11 at Post Road. We wandered back through Indy, stopping off at 86th Street Pub for the last 30 laps of the race and realizing why those "post-meet" gatherings don't happen all that often. 

Yes, I saw that and wondered how that accident happened.

And I'm glad you guys finally got the free Slurpees.

[Alps]

I'm gonna have to use most of Saturday for my trip report.  The route itself (over 5 and 2-halves days of driving) spans five different pieces of paper and 3900 miles in total.  Let's just say I saw a lot.  Had I not been out of sorts on Friday, add another 300 miles and half a piece of paper.  It was great meeting people for the first time - Tim Brown, other-Brian, Sam, and Brian's Dad.