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Last updated on Friday, December 8, 2017
(BLOOMINGTON) - The City of Bloomington Street Department will be conducting a citywide survey of street pavement and sidewalk conditions, as well as performing a comprehensive assessment of traffic control signage.
The Board of Public Works recently approved a contract with the Transmap Company to undertake this project. Condition data and associated infrastructure metrics will be collected via traditional field inspections, as well as through the use of Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology. LIDAR is more time efficient than visual data collection and allows for real-time data collection while providing more uniform and accurate reporting.
"Residents will see a vehicle with multiple cameras and other equipment -- LIDAR and thermal imaging -- mounted on it driving around town collecting data over the next few months," said Mayor John Hamilton. "The data this unusual-looking vehicle will collect will enable us to improve the way we prioritize things like sidewalk repair, sign replacement and pavement repair. This is a great way to employ technology to improve our everyday operations at the city. The analysis that took 3 years to complete in the past will now take 3 months."
The collected street pavement data will be utilized to update the current Pavement Condition Index (PCI) ratings for the City's 234 miles of street network. Staff will use these updated PCI ratings directly to prepare targeted improvements during the development of the City's 2018 paving schedule. The collection of sidewalk data will provide an updated picture of sidewalk, curb and Americans with Disability Act compliant ramp conditions, which will be utilized to identify areas of concern and provide planning direction for future infrastructure improvements.
The project also will collect traffic control sign attribute condition data. All new signs installed by the City are required to meet federal retro-reflectivity standards, and the City anticipates replacing many existing signs to meet current standards. The City presently maintains approximately 36,000 signs throughout Bloomington, and no condition data is currently available to allow the City to anticipate how many signs will need to be updated to meet federal standards.
"This project presents an excellent opportunity to use technology to provide a clear and accurate picture of current street and sidewalk conditions, allowing us to much better plan for future capital needs," said Joe VanDeventer, Director of Street Operations. "It will also free up our staff from manually collecting the data as they've done in the past, which is extremely time-consuming, and can instead allow them to do other important tasks. We're also excited to soon have a comprehensive signage assessment in place."
The project is scheduled to start later this month and will be completed in March 2018. Data summaries and statistics for Street Department activities can be found on the B-Clear Open Data portal, located at https://data.bloomington.in.gov/.
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