BLOOMINGTON – Numerous infrastructure improvement projects are underway this season to advance community goals, including safety, sustainability, accessibility, equity, economic vitality, and quality of life in Bloomington.
The City will provide regular public updates on a range of these improvements as they progress. City departments coordinate with one another, as well as with private developers, to minimize the impact on Bloomington residents and visitors.
PARKS & RECREATION
The July meeting of the Board of Park Commissioners has been canceled due to a lack of a quorum. The Board of Park Commissioners will reconvene at their next regularly scheduled meeting on August 16 at 4 p.m. in City Hall. The public is invited and welcome to attend the meeting in person or virtually via Zoom. For more information, visit https://bton.in/5KZOD.
Farmers’ Market: Bollards at City Hall
Bollards have been installed on the Morton Street and Rogers street entrances to the City Hall parking lot. The second set of bollards along the Rogers Street entrance were removed earlier this week and vehicular traffic from Rogers may resume. These bollards separate Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market customers from vehicle traffic and are in place during the Farmers’ Market; the entrance is open to vehicle traffic during times when the market is not in session.
B-Line Trail
The Parks and Recreation Department will begin trimming overgrown trees and brush on the south end of the B-Line Trail south of Switchyard Park during the week of July 18. While the B-Line Trail will remain open, trail users are asked to exercise caution when passing Parks and Recreation crews working along the trail. One lane of the trail may close periodically to accommodate tree trimming.
The Waldron, Hill, and Buskirk Park
Repairs to the performance stage columns are scheduled to begin by July 15. The project contractor will deconstruct the cracked, existing columns before repairing and reconstructing the columns. Deconstruction will take at least one week. Crews will return to the park in August to reconstruct the columns.
Lower Cascades Park
The orange fencing used during construction is being removed from the project areas along the newly constructed streambank wall but will remain at the site of the former gravel parking lot across the concrete spillway. Most of the grass seeding in this area was done prior to the oppressive heat wave in June, which resulted in poor germination and early death of the grass. The contractor will re-seed construction areas this fall and will also conduct final tree checks and plant the replacement trees throughout the project area. Contractors will also install a guardrail along the road at the concrete spillway, after which the construction access gate will be removed.
UTILITIES
Hidden River Pathway Project
The two-year downtown stormwater infrastructure reconstruction project to address flooding during rain events will continue to necessitate the closure of East 4th Street between Lincoln and Grant. Residents may notice there is currently a giant hole in Grant Street! Currently, crews are working in the alley near Soma Coffee House and Trinity Episcopal Church. The City will continue to coordinate with other construction and road projects as they reconstruct 1,829 feet of culverts to protect downtown area residential and commercial buildings. This project is on track to be finished by the February 2023 deadline.
Evergreen Village Stormwater
City of Bloomington Utilities will be doing restoration work on a drainage ditch and detention pond in Evergreen Village, off Susie Street. Weather permitting, the project will be complete in early August.
PUBLIC WORKS
Street Paving
This week and into next, crews are paving East 7th Street from North Union Street to Hillsdale Drive. This work is being completed in coordination with the City’s 7th Street Neighborhood Greenway project. Street Division crews added permanent lane markings to E 10th and Union Street as the final step in the milling and paving of Union from 10th to 7th. Next week, crews are installing ADA-compliant ramps on E 2nd Street from High Street to Swain Avenue.
Engineering
Walnut Traffic Signals
The City’s project to construct new traffic signals at the N Walnut Street intersections of 11th Street and 14th Street is expected to be substantially complete by the end of July. Final work tasks to be completed over the upcoming weeks include final paving, installation of pavement markings, power hook-up coordination with Duke, and signal activation.
This project also includes curb ramp improvements for the pedestrian hybrid beacon crossing of South Walnut Street at the Switchyard Park entrance and B-Link Trail connection. The work at this crossing of S Walnut Street is expected to start the week of July 18th.
Hopewell Phase 1 East Demo
The City anticipates demolition activities as identified in the Hospital Site Master Plan may start as early as late July at the Hopewell Phase 1 East project site bounded by 2nd Street to the north, 1st Street to the south, B-Line to the east, and Rogers Street to the west. Some activities may begin next week including the installation of site fencing, equipment mobilization, and building preparations for demolition.
The City ITS Department recently took aerial photos of the site that will be updated during the course of the project to document the transformation of the area. Below is an aerial photo taken from the 1st & Morton Street intersection looking northwest across the site.
Additional information about the project and the contractor can be found at the following links: https://bton.in/mRp~I, hopewellbloomington.org & renascentinc.com. The Hospital Site Redevelopment Master Plan is available at https://bton.in/mlLbk.
