Experts discuss campus traffic on 10th St.

Experts presented ideas for relieving traffic congestion in the 10th Street corridor Thursday, after a study yielded several ideas for new traffic patterns for the busiest street on campus.

The 10th Street Mobility Study was commissioned in January by the Metropolitan Planning Organization, part of the Department of Transportation in Bloomington. Working with IU and the City of Bloomington, the MPO hired Gorove/Slade Associates, Inc.  to conduct the study.

“Hopefully, this is the study to end all studies,” said Raymond Hess, MPO senior transportation planner . “We need to find a solution for vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians – not just cars.”

Gorove/Slade, the same firm that helped IU Athletics develop new game-day traffic patterns, presented three ideas for congestion relief.

The first idea, said Dan Van Pelt of Gorove/Slade, is to leave 10th Street the same and expand the State Route 45/46 Bypass to four lanes – an expansion that he said will probably occur regardless of changes to 10th Street.

A second plan calls for an expansion of Law Lane, which would be rerouted to meet 14th Street instead of terminating at Fee Lane, and making both 10th Street and Law Lane one-way routes, similar to the traffic pattern used on Third Street and East Atwater Avenue.

A third plan would also provide for the expansion of Law Lane, but would keep both 10th Street and Law Lane two-way streets.

Van Pelt said the one-way street option would cost an estimated $13 million in road construction alone, while the two-way option would cost an estimated $15 million.

Bloomington residents at the meeting had mixed reactions to the plans. Some called for more attention to mass transportation considerations and were concerned about changing roads on Bloomington Transit’s most crowded routes – the 6 and 9 bus routes – that currently go both ways on 10th Street.

Another resident said pedestrians and bicyclists were her biggest concerns. Plans might include new sidewalks and bicycle lanes installed on 10th Street or Law Lane.

Van Pelt responded to the concerns, saying, “It’s not about moving vehicles from place to place, it’s about moving people.”

Van Pelt added that the study did not plan for specific improvements to sidewalks or roads but was about the “feasibility” and results of changing existing traffic patterns.

One resident, Margaret Greischer, said she was concerned about increased traffic in her neighborhood.

“I’m worried my quiet neighborhood isn’t going to be that way any more with all those cars,” she said in a small group activity at the meeting.

Hess said no final recommendations have been made to the city, and no decisions are likely to be made until the end of the year.

“There’s still a long way to go,” he said. “A lot of details to be worked out.”