June 29, 2023 derecho: a 70 mph gust was measured at Indianapolis International Airport and NWS logged trees blocking Furnas Road just off South High School Road on the west side. The July 15-16, 2024 derecho clipped Marion County along its southern edge with a 58 mph measured gust at the airport and multiple downed power lines in Indianapolis, though the destructive core of that one ran north through Tippecanoe, Howard, Tipton and Hamilton counties. Weeping Willow is one of the species that fails under that kind of load. Removing a weeping willow around Speedway runs roughly $400–$1,900, and in Old Speedway City (Speedway Historic District), Speedway Manor and Main Street corridor access is usually what decides where in that range you land.
What's actually growing in Speedway
No public street-tree inventory has been published for Speedway, so species counts are UNVERIFIED. Because the residential core finished building out by the mid-1950s and has barely been rebuilt since, much of the yard canopy is likely of comparable age and large enough to close over narrow streets and 40-to-50-foot lots — an inference from build-out dates, not a measured finding. The exception is Main Street, where a town streetscape reconstruction installed all-new landscaping, so those trees are recent.
Speedway's housing stock, and what it means for tree size
Speedway was laid out in 1912 as a residential suburb by Indianapolis Motor Speedway founders Carl Fisher, James Allison, Frank Wheeler and Arthur Newby — a "horseless city" for auto-industry workers. The Speedway Historic District (41.6 acres, 304 contributing buildings, NRHP September 15, 2005) built out from about 1912 to 1955 in Foursquare and Craftsman bungalow styles; the town then more than doubled, from 5,498 people in 1950 to 14,523 in 1970, and new single-family construction has been close to nil since the 1990s.
What's specific to weeping willow
Willow roots are shallow, fibrous, and aggressively water-seeking, traveling well past the dripline; this is the species most often found inside a cracked clay sewer lateral, a field tile, or a septic line. On heavy central Indiana clay where water perches near the surface, they stay in the top foot or so and heave patios, walks, and drives instead of diving deep — siting guidance is 50 feet or more from any of that, which almost no existing yard willow respects.
Marion County rules
Indiana has no statewide tree removal permit, and no Speedway ordinance requiring a permit to remove a tree on private property is documented in the sources reviewed. Important caveat: Speedway is an excluded town under Unigov and maintains its own municipal code separate from Indianapolis, and the full Speedway code text could not be retrieved, so the exact local text is UNVERIFIED. Marion County's zoning ordinance does state a purpose of protecting and enhancing tree cover and the countywide code carries a "Trees and Flora" chapter, but the section citations are unconfirmed and whether they bind Speedway is unconfirmed. Call the Speedway Street Department before touching anything near the street line.