INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis drivers could see some relief coming from bumpy roads around town.

The City-County Council is investing millions of dollars into infrastructure in their 2026 budget. It is also an effort to keep pedestrians safe on city streets.

City-County Councilor Joshua Bain (R-District 21) said in his six years on the council, infrastructure is clearly the top issue he hears from people about — especially in his district on the southwest side.

In the 2026 budget, Bain said a little more than $100 million would be spent on roads and bridges. However, he said a study from about five or six years ago shows that this is not nearly enough.

“It showed that we have to be spending between $400-600 million a year on roads just to maintain our current road condition,” Bain said.

That is why he said he voted against the budget, explaining there should be even more funding to make our roads better.

“It’s at least 20% of what we should be spending on our roads, and the more that we don’t invest in our infrastructure, the infrastructure just gets older and older,” Bain said.

Bain said the older roads become, the more expensive they are to repair. Since the most recent road upkeep study is from several years ago, Bain said costs could be even higher now.

“This budget addresses council priorities identified by residents and businesses across all 25 districts, including a $33 million investment in transportation and infrastructure that focuses on maintaining and modernizing our roads, as well as multimodal safety improvements,” City-County Councilor and Majority Leader Maggie Lewis (D-District 5) said in a statement.

The budget also looks at how to make intersections and crosswalks safer across the city. The intersection of North College and Massachusetts avenues was the scene of a fatal hit-and-run last year.

“We’re keeping an eye on every intersection that’s problematic in Indianapolis and pushing the city for better,” said Andrea Watts, Health by Design director of communications.

Health by Design advocates for street safety. Watts said the budget includes an amendment for $1 million toward Vision Zero initiatives. While they are grateful for that, they know more can be done to keep pedestrians safe.

“When you compare ourselves to cities like Philadelphia, they invested $5 million, or our neighbors in Cincinnati, who invested $9 million,” Watts said. “It’s just a little drop in the bucket in comparison.”

Watts added they want the city to focus on adding sidewalks and crosswalks — especially around schools — and prioritize intersections where crashes and fatalities happen.