The following is a press release written by Desiree DeMolina for the City of Bloomington.
The City of Bloomington will begin construction in the first week of June on the $6.3 million West 2nd Street Modernization and Safety Improvement Project. The project will improve West 2nd Street between the B-Line Trail and Walker Street. Planned work includes:
- Installation of a two-way protected bicycle lane between the B-Line Trail and the 2nd/Bloomfield multi-use path at Walker Street
- Replacement of traffic signals at 2nd Street and Walker Street and at 2nd Street and Rogers Street
- Installation of new storm sewer infrastructure along the corridor
- Roadway resurfacing
- Accessible level boarding bus stops at four locations
- New pedestrian scale street lighting
- Sidewalk, curb ramp, crosswalk, and street tree improvements
The project is intended to improve safety, replace aging infrastructure, and improve access for people walking, biking, riding transit, driving, and using mobility devices.
The work also supports several adopted plans and nearby community investments. The project advances goals and recommendations identified for this corridor in the City’s 2019 Transportation Plan, supports redevelopment of the former IU Health hospital site as the Hopewell Neighborhood, and complements planned improvements at Building Trades Park and the Building Trades Park Master Plan. Bus stop upgrades, completed in coordination with Bloomington Transit, also support the Transform BT Strategic Plan.
Residents should expect temporary lane restrictions, traffic adjustments, detours, and short-term B-Line Trail closures throughout construction. The first B-Line Trail closure is expected to last one day in early June. Additional five-day B-Line Trail closures are expected in late July and mid-September. Dates may shift due to weather, construction progress, and other operational factors.
Beginning in August, the project team expects to install a one-way maintenance-of-traffic pattern on West 2nd Street. Eastbound traffic between Walker Street and Morton Street will be detoured to 1st Street. Westbound traffic will remain open on 2nd Street. The intersection of 2nd Street and Rogers Street will also fully close for up to seven days on a date to be announced.
This work will be carefully coordinated with other projects happening this summer throughout Bloomington. Residents are advised to prepare for detours and delays and to remain alert while traveling.
