Bloomington mayor vetoes carless Kirkwood, council could try override on July 22

The proposal to close Kirkwood Avenue to vehicular traffic during summer months is on hold again as Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson on Monday (June 22) vetoed Ordinance 2026-12.

The measure would have made it a part of city code to close Kirkwood Avenue from Indiana Avenue to Walnut Street to cars during the months of April to November.

The announcement came in a news release sent around 5:15 p.m. on Monday.

In a letter addressed to Bloomington, the mayor outlined her rationale behind the veto, including the input she received during a community conversation last Tuesday.

“Kirkwood is a place of memory, movement, commerce, and gathering—it is often the heartbeat of our civic life,” the letter said. “And for that very reason, a permanent decision about Kirkwood deserves to have Bloomington’s imagination and innovation captured in a plan to be executed when the community can fund it.”

Thomson also cited lack of engagement with residents on the closure as a reason behind her veto.

“The city also had not had open community input on the Kirkwood closure, but instead only reactions to the resolution, which many, including the businesses and residents most affected, did not know about in time to offer input,” she wrote.

Explaining the concerns about funding that a proposal like this might face, she said in the letter, “I am vetoing Council’s Ordinance 2026-12 to close Kirkwood, which arrived absent of a plan to ensure its success or an analysis of fiscal impact, much less identification of the funding to do so. This is particularly significant as Indiana communities adjust to Senate Enrolled Act 1, which creates substantial uncertainty for municipal revenue and long-term financial planning.”

Moving forward, the mayor called for further engagement with the community.

“Additionally, a transformation of this significance should be carried out by the people whose lives and livelihoods it will shape. The voices we have heard do not yet reflect the broad community support and shared confidence that a long-term transformation of this scale requires,” she wrote. “Instead, it is time to engage in a process that is certainly worthy of more imagination.”

The veto comes six days after the mayor was presented with the ordinance, which passed 5–4 on the nine-member city council. Under state law, the mayor had a deadline of ten days after presentation before either approving or vetoing the ordinance.

The ordinance, which was co-sponsored by councilmembers Kate Rosenbarger and Courtney Daily, had received a positive recommendation from the transportation commission. However, during council deliberations, business owners and members of the community spoke against the proposal—citing concerns about parking, accessibility for people with disabilities, and a potential loss of business if cars lose access to the area.

Supporters of the ordinance said the administration’s decision to move away from closing the street to cars this year reflected a lack of willingness to transform Kirkwood into a pedestrian corridor, and this ordinance would force the mayor’s hand into building the infrastructure and systems to make that possible.

The council now has the option to override the veto by voting on the ordinance again and passing it with at least a two-thirds majority, which is six votes. That vote has to come at the council’s next regular or special meeting. The council’s next regular meeting is set for July 22.

Assuming those who voted for the ordinance the first time around stick to their position, an override would require flipping at least one of the four votes cast against the ordinance on June 10. The dissent during that vote came from council members Hopi Stosberg, Sydney Zulich, Isabel Piedmont-Smith, and Andy Ruff. Supporting the ordinance were: Isak Asare, Courtney Daily, Kate Rosenbarger, Dave Rollo, and Matt Flaherty.

The seasonal closing of Kirkwood Avenue to vehicular traffic has been an annual topic of conversation since 2020.