The central canal was built in 1822 and created Broad Ripple. The canal runs eight miles to downtown Indianapolis and supplies 60% of the drinking water for the city.
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Monon Bridge over canal for trail
2001
College Avenue bridge over canal
2004
Central Canal History
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Central Canal But Were Afraid To Ask a series of articles from the Broad Ripple Gazette
To alleviate the parking woes in Broad Ripple Village a parking deck was built over the canal, west of the Guilford "Rainbow" Bridge, in 1958 and was torn out in 1999. Plans to remove it in 1997 were halted while a study was conducted to find new parking spots to make up the loss. Eventually sinkholes formed and the structure deteriorated. It was then removed.