The Bloomington Planning and Transportation Department hosted the first of two public meetings Tuesday to gather input on the College Avenue and Walnut Street corridor.
Community members gathered at City Hall to provide feedback on two new design proposals for the corridor of southbound College Avenue and northbound Walnut Street, both one-ways, from State Road 45/46 Bypass to Allen Street.
The council chambers and the hallway outside were occupied by folding tables covered with the printed proposals. Attendees were provided with feedback slips, pens and sticky notes to label specific areas of the corridor with feedback.
Many of the notes expressed disapproval at the addition of reverse-angle parking, especially along the Courthouse Square. Other notes suggested turn lanes and roundabouts.
The feedback, both general and location-specific, will be used to finalize proposals for the corridor, Ryan Robling, planning services manager for the City’s Planning and Transportation Department, said.
“This will help us in determining which design alternative ultimately we go forward with that'll get amended into the transportation plan,” Robling said.
The proposals were made by the Toole Design Group and were selected after the city sent out a request for information for a consulting group in 2022. One proposal would leave both streets one-way, while the other would turn both into two-ways.
The one-way configuration would keep the current traffic pattern along the corridor and focus on adding safety infrastructure. The other option would turn both College Avenue and Walnut Street into two-ways, improve safety infrastructure and create additional parking and loading zones downtown.
There are around 150 crashes a year in the area of road included in the project, according to presentations from meetings held in June. Robling said since January of 2019, there have been three fatal crashes along the corridor. The city has identified issues such as speeding, narrow sidewalks and inadequate pedestrian networks as major safety issues.
One of the key purposes of the corridor study, identified in the city’s 2019 Transportation Plan, is to make the roads safer for motor vehicle occupants, pedestrians and bikers alike.
Attendees could speak with city employees about the different proposals for the corridor and provide feedback.
Proposed changes to the corridor would include the square, where the two one-way roads and parking options would be altered and bike paths would be added.
There are currently 404 metered parking spaces along the corridor with 143 spaces between Third and Seventh streets downtown, Robling said in an email.
“While the current corridor includes a larger number of parking spaces, many are un- or under-utilized,” Robling said in an email. “On-street parking is one of our best traffic calming tools, but ample unused parking can actually have the opposite effect, as drivers feel more comfortable traveling at higher speeds when there's additional space.”
With the one-way proposal, there would be 186 metered parking spaces, with 82 downtown. The two-way proposal would have 253 metered parking spaces, with 144 downtown.
Some attendees, such as Kathy Aiken, a Bloomington resident of over 50 years, raised concerns about how the different proposals would impact parking and traffic. Aiken works in a store on the square downtown and expressed concerns about traffic congestion.
“Their alleys aren't sufficient for big semis to get into with deliveries and stuff,” Aiken said. “And most of the businesses around the square get deliveries. So to me, that is, that's the biggest problem as far as congestion that would result from this.”
Two public meetings were also held in mid-June, and Robling said more public feedback initiatives are in the works.
“We're also going to do some other outreach pop-ups on the street to capture people on the street, talk to businesses along the corridor, other stakeholders,” Robling said.
City staff will host these pop-up events from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4. An online feedback form will also be available until Dec. 1.
The next public meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 30 in the city council chambers at City Hall.
