City, IU partner for smooth construction near campus

The intersection of 17th Street and Fee Lane is just one area in Bloomington that has been a headache for drivers during the summer months.
The city of Bloomington and IU have worked together to fix the area in time for the fall semester. These major upgrades were seen by the state of Indiana as necessary to the improvement of the busy road.
This intersection and these roads are extremely vital and are high traffic areas to the IU campus and many pedestrians, said Daniel Lopez, communications director for the city of Bloomington. The construction, which began immediately after IU’s graduation ceremonies in May, was overdue for many upgrades, said Susie Johnson of the Public Works department for the City of Bloomington.
“The road curve has been taken out, we’ve added pedestrian friendly improvements such as side paths and upgrades to the traffic signals,” she said. “So, we’re really making some very significant improvements.”
The construction has been ongoing all summer and is expected to be finished by Sept. 13, according to the project contract.
“The project was awarded by INDOT in the amount of $692,116.06. The city of Bloomington’s portion will be 10 percent of that amount,” Johnson said.
IU has also partnered with the city to ensure construction goes smoothly and that traffic problems remain low especially during the busy move-in week. The road which many people rely on was opened and all construction was stopped for Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
“Our government was able to work out an agreement with IU and the project manager to open up the road for move-in and the football game,” Lopez said.
All construction and construction workers will be gone and the road will be cleared so it is completely accessible to the high traffic of people moving in and commuting to the bypass.
IU Police Department officer Clint Holmstrom said he was glad 17th Street and Fee Lane were opened up for the move in process. Holmstrom, located outside of Briscoe Quad, was one of the many IUPD officers designated to direct traffic outside of the residence halls Wednesday.
“If the road wasn’t open, I’d say there would be a lot more confusion and congestion,” he said. “Big time.”
Indianapolis resident and parent of a son moving into Briscoe Quad, Dave Gillyan, was appreciative of the police directors.
“I was very glad they had police at the intersections,” he said. “It would have been a lot worse otherwise.”
Johnson said she expects the project to be finished before the expected end date and that stopping construction for these few days only delayed the project a little.
“It’s nice we opened up the road, especially for those people that have never been here before and aren’t sure of which ways to go,” she said.