By Steve Polston
Indy in May is the place where motorsports and history come together at the Indianapolis ‘500,’ but Indianapolis is the Crossroads of America all year long.
Indianapolis’ Washington Street and Meridian Street cross Downtown. You’ll want to see the city’s newest highway intersection a few blocks west of the north and south cross.
Yes – a new highway intersection can be a tourist attraction.
Located below the new on-off ramps for US 40 (Washington Street) and Interstate 65, this cool and compact interlace of surface street and freeway is really kind of elegant and puts an important new entrance to the city within blocks of the vibrant Downtown.
But most pleasing is the monument that was erected to welcome you to the city. You can see it from the highway above and on the city streets below. The best angle is heading into Downtown from the east. This huge traffic tower is capped with a US 40 National Road shield-style emblem.
Lights inside the tower phase from color to color and you’ll see many points on the nation’s storied cross-nation highway marked with lights from behind.
An important surface street gateway to the city from Southeastern Avenue brings local traffic from the suburbs to Downtown just a few blocks from the intersection. If you’ve got a moment to spare it's worth traveling this 10-mile stretch to I-465 and I-74 as you travel on to Cincinnati, which traces the route of Old US 421.
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