Jordan Avenue construction is expected to begin this week or next and is expected to wrap up by the end of the year, said Mia Williams , University landscape architect.
Upon completion, Jordan Avenue will boast six new crosswalks and a median, stretching from Third Street to the Musical Arts Center, Williams said.
Six new crosswalks will be added, including one near the southern end of Simon Music Center, two near Jones Avenue and two near East University Road, Williams said.
The crosswalk at the intersection of Jordan Avenue and Third Street will also be replaced and upgraded.
Jordan Avenue will still boast a travel and bike lane running in each direction as well as a bus pull-off lane at the bus stop near the southern end of the Musical Arts Center, Williams said.
She said construction on the west side will be completed before construction on the east side begins.
One travel lane running north and one travel lane running south will be open throughout the entire project due to these construction stages, she added. Traffic, however, may be ?backed up.
“It’s a major north-to-south emergency vehicle access way, so there’s no way that we can close the street completely during construction,” she said. “So we will be building it in phases.”
The addition of six new ?crosswalks and a median reflect a growing concern for student safety, Williams said. Students often cross Jordan Avenue at random points rather than at designated crosswalks.
“I know I’ve watched, over the last 18 years that I’ve been here, the randomness of the crossing and the lack of awareness,” ?Williams said.
“We’re all looking at our cell phones. We’ve all got our earbuds in. We’re all trying to do three things at once. And you get a driver that’s doing three things at once, a pedestrian that’s doing three things at once and that could be a really bad combination.”
The median will be landscaped, filled with elm trees and other plants, in an attempt to funnel students to the new crosswalks, Williams said.
“If we had a median that was just a raised concrete platform down the center of Jordan (Avenue), it would actually make it more attractive for people to randomly cross, since they could just dart out to the median and have a refuge,” she said.
Representatives from the city and IU have discussed the addition of new crosswalks and a median for nearly 10 years, Williams said.
While representatives from Bloomington wanted a raised concrete median, representatives from IU sought an aesthetically pleasing median.
“We’ll be able to get the best of both worlds,” she said. “And, in my opinion, it was worth the wait.”
