Clean Neighborhoods
Busy Roads
Program Overview
Have you seen Keep Indianapolis Beautiful trucks and trailers out on the road and a crew of fine people collecting litter in brightly colored vests? Then you’ve met our Keep Indianapolis Beautiful & Keys2Work Clean Team!
The team is out and about each weekday, collecting litter along busy thoroughfares. These streets have such heavy traffic or high speeds that it would be unsafe for someone to collect litter on their own. With trucks, collection trailers, and flashing arrow sign boards to keep the crews safe, the team got to work in January 2023. In their first two weeks, the Clean Team collected over 1 ton of litter, and they’re just getting started!
We are also engaging businesses along these thoroughfares through our Adopt-A-Block program. With our Clean Team coming through periodically and businesses doing their part to keep their blocks clean, we will significantly reduce litter and enjoy cleaner streets.
This work is possible due to a $3.78 million grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., which funds this program through 2025, along with litter reduction along waterways and community engagement.
Program Details
Keys2Work helps homeless and justice-involved citizens successfully transition into the workforce through employment assistance, workforce certifications, workplace mentoring, and job placement services. Since 1996, they have helped more than 10,000 people secure employment. Read more at keys2.org.
What roads are on the list?
- Shadeland Avenue, from Washington Street (south end) to 46th Street (north end) (4.72 miles)
- 25th Street, from Sherman Drive (east end) to Meridian Street (west end) (2.88 miles)
- 21st Street, from Dearborn Street (east end) to Mitthoefer Road (west end) (6.43 miles)
- Massachusetts Ave, from Sherman Drive (east end) to 10th Street (west end) (2.43 miles)
- Sherman Drive, from Raymond Street (south end) to 25th Street (south end) (4.53 miles)
- Rural Street, from New York St (south end) to Roosevelt Avenue (north end) (1.61 miles)
- Michigan Street, from East St (east end) to Pleasant Run Parkway South (west end) (3.78 miles)
- New York Street, from East Street (east end) to Emerson Avenue (west end) (3.56 miles)
- Washington Street, from Mitthoeffer Road (east end) to Arlington Ave (west end) (3.93 miles)
- English Avenue, from Sherman Drive (east end) to Calvary Street (west end) (2.09 miles)
- State Avenue, from Gimber Street (south end) to Michigan Street (north end) (3.23 miles)
- Shelby Street, from Lawrence Ave (south end) to Southeastern Avenue (north end) (4.56 miles)
- Concord Street, from Vermont Street (south end) to 16th Street (north end) (1.08 miles)
- Harding Street, from Raymond Street (south end) to Oliver Street (north end) (1.54 miles)
- Kentucky Avenue, from Harding Street (east end) to Tibbs Avenue (west end) (2.12 miles)
- Raymond Street, from Tibbs Avenue (east end) to Post Road (west end) (8.07 miles)
- Michigan Road, from Kessler Blvd W Dr (south end) to 86th Street (north end) (4.16 miles)
- 38th Street, from N Carroll Road (east end) to Eagle Creek Parkway (west end) (18.07 miles)
- Keystone Avenue, from 24th Street (south end) to 62nd Street (north end) (4.60 miles)
- Fall Creek Parkway, from Keystone Ave (east end) to Senate Blvd/Highland Place (west end) (3.70 miles)
- Central Avenue, from 10th Street (south end) to 38th Street (north end) (3.02 miles)
- Capitol Avenue, from North Street (south end) to 38th Street (north end) (3.42 miles)
There is litter on a street near me. Can the Clean Team help?
For now, our focus is on the 20 thoroughfares in the map shown above. We know that littered areas outside of these streets would also benefit from increased attention, but we are concentrating on these roadways to maximize our impact.
We encourage anyone with a concern over heavy litter or illegal dumping in an area to report it to the Mayor’s Action Center (MAC). The MAC can connect concerns with litter cleanup resources, and they send us the data we use to identify litter hot spots in Indianapolis. Reports can be filed with the MAC by phone at (317) 327-4622, online through the RequestIndy website, or by downloading the RequestIndy app from your phone’s app store.