BLOOMINGTON – Numerous infrastructure improvement projects are underway this season to advance community goals, including safety, sustainability, accessibility, equity, economic vitality, and quality of life in Bloomington. The City will provide regular public updates on a range of these improvements as they progress. City departments coordinate with one another, as well as with private developers, to minimize the impact on Bloomington residents and visitors.
PARKS & RECREATION
Bryan Park Pool
Bryan Park Pool is open Saturdays and Sundays only from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. The final day of pool operation for the 2022 season is Labor Day, September 5.
Scatter Garden at Rose Hill Cemetery
The Board of Park Commissioners at their August 16th meeting approved three separate contracts for work that will complete the scatter garden at Rose Hill Cemetery. A scatter garden is a designated place where the family and friends of a deceased person can scatter the ashes of their loved one.
Contracts for completion of the scatter garden at Rose Hill include site preparation and turf installation, stonework, and a granite monument. The scatter garden is scheduled for completion by the end of September.
UTILITIES
Hidden River Pathway Project
The two-year downtown stormwater infrastructure reconstruction project to address flooding during rain events continues. Last week the contractor, Milestone, finished the last pour on the floor for the new box culvert and completed the westernmost wall. This week Milestone will complete the eastern wall and begin work on forming the ceiling of the new culvert.
No changes this week in the traffic pattern. Grant will be closed from 4th to Kirkwood and 4th Street is only one lane from Lincoln to Grant. The alley on the east side of Grant, between Trinity Church and Longfei Restaurant, will remain closed.
The City will continue to coordinate with other construction and road projects as they reconstruct 1,829 feet of culverts to protect downtown area residential and commercial buildings. This project is on track to be finished by the February 2023 deadline. For more information about the project visit: bloomington.in.gov/utilities/hidden-river.
Businesses on 4th and Grant are still open as this project continues around them. They welcome customers and taking the time to visit them may afford residents an opportunity to see what’s happening with this project. Businesses in the impacted area include Siam House, Little Tibet, Burma Garden, Korea Restaurant, Oak, My Thai, DO Asian Fusion, Dat’s, B-Town Gyros, Healthy Hoosiers, Bali Cafe, Storm Real Estate, Longfei, Parlor Donuts, Soma Coffeehouse, and Taste of India.
Evergreen Village Stormwater
City of Bloomington Utilities is doing restoration work on a drainage ditch and detention pond in Evergreen Village, off Susie Street. Digging and grading are complete. The planting of native flowers and grasses is in progress. Weather permitting, the project will be completed this month.
PUBLIC WORKS
Recent milling and paving on High Street is complete. Crews are currently paving 2nd Street from High to Swain. Next week, crews will be replacing sidewalks on 7th Street from Rogers to Madison.
ENGINEERING
Hopewell Phase 1 East
Preparations for building demolition at the site started this week with the installation of a perimeter fence and removal of environmentally sensitive materials from the buildings. The City anticipates the start of tree clearing and building demolition work to begin on Monday, August 22nd. Demolition will start with the old Bloomington Hospital Services Building at 640 S Morton – shown in the photo below. The Hopewell Phase 1 East project site is bounded by 2nd Street to the north, 1st Street to the south, B-Line to the east, and Rogers Street to the west. Additional information about the project and the contractor can be found at the following links: https://bton.in/mRp~I, hopewellbloomington.org & renascentinc.com/
Neighborhood Greenways
The neighborhood greenways projects on E 7th Street and along Graham Drive are nearing completion. Neighborhood Greenways use traffic calming and other tools to create convenient and high-comfort walking and bicycling connections along shared-space streets. In order to increase the convenience and priority of these routes, existing traffic controls are analyzed and updated where appropriate. On these routes, there are two intersections where stop signs were updated to yield signs and one intersection where an all-way stop was converted to a two-way stop.
- Graham Drive @ Bryan Street – Replaced stop control on Graham Drive with yield control
- 7th Street @ Hillsdale Drive – Replaced stop control on 7th Street at Hillsdale with yield control
- 7th Street @ Jefferson – Replaced all-way stop control with two-way stop control (Jefferson Street is stop controlled.)
IU Poplars Building Demolition
Due to the current demolition phase of the Indiana University Poplars Building on 7th Street, west of campus, N Grant Street will be closed between E 6th and E 7th from August 29th to September 9th. The sidewalks adjacent to the building will also be closed during each of these closures. Closures will be 24 hours a day.
Walnut & 14th Street
The new traffic signal at 14th & Walnut was activated on Friday, August 12th. A new signal at 11th Street and Walnut Street was previously activated on July 25th. These two traffic signals were prioritized to improve pedestrian crossings across Walnut Street and to mitigate a history of motor vehicle crashes. The new traffic signals will be timed to work with the progression of the previously existing traffic signals along the Walnut corridor, and they will also better accommodate the increased traffic from recent and upcoming redevelopments in the area.
