BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Big changes could be coming to Indiana Avenue and the City of Bloomington is asking for your feedback.
The city will hold three public meetings to get feedback on a proposed protected bike lane on Indiana Avenue that would start a Smith Avenue just south of Third Street, and continue north until Tenth Street.
The Indiana Avenue Safety Improvement Project would also bring pedestrian crossing improvements and bus stop improvements, the city says. Nearly 7,000 cars use the stretch of road every day, according to traffic counts collected in February.
The first public meeting is June 11 at 5:30 p.m. at the Sample Gates and will go over the project overview and objectives. If it is raining, the meeting will be pushed to June 12 at the same time and location.
The second public meeting will be on July 16 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss preliminary designs and feedback. No location for that meeting has been announced.
The third public meeting will be on Aug. 14 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss further design plans and continued feedback. No location for that meeting has been announced either.
The city also has a form that residents can fill out if they are unable to make the meeting but would still like to give their feedback.
The project aims to increase safety, connectivity, and accessibility along Indiana Avenue. In a release, the city said that since 2018, there have been nine traffic collisions on the road that ended in severe injuries or death.
Construction on the protected bike lane could start as early as next year, the city says.
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There have been similar changes to pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in recent years. In March, the city installed barriers along the Third Street bike lane to stop drivers from dropping off passengers while parked in the bike lane.
At the time, Bloomington Bike and Pedestrian Safety Coordinator Hank Duncan hinted that the city is looking at extending the protected bike lane on Third Street as far east as Forest Quad as early as this year.
