Stop signs at 7th-and-Dunn intersection now included in Bloomington city code
The existing stop signs for traffic on 7th Street at the intersection of Dunn Street are now included in Bloomington’s city code, after they were physically re-installed a year and a half ago.
The codification of the 7th-and-Dunn stop signs came on a unanimous vote of Bloomington’s city council at its Wednesday meeting. The tally was 7–0, as Sydney Zulich and Dave Rollo were absent.
The vote was not particularly contentious, because there has long been a consensus about the re-installation of stop signs at the 7th-and-Dunn intersection, even if the sentiment about other intersections has not been as uniform.
Still, on Wednesday night, the council spent about an hour on the item before finally approving it. Most of the focus of the council’s deliberations was on other ways, besides stop signs, to improve safety in the corridor.
Councilmember Andy Ruff raised questions about the merits of the 7-Line separated bicycle lane project, which removed stop signs at five 7th Street intersections.
The 7-Line is a two-way separated bicycle lane that runs along the south edge of the street, from the B-Line trail on the west, to Woodlawn Avenue at Indiana University campus on the east. The 7-Line opened in November 2021.
The removal of the stop signs was meant to encourage greater use of the 7-Line by cyclists.
The physical reinstallation of the all-way stop at 7th and Dunn came last year, in mid-April of 2023. It was based on a 180-day order from city engineer Andrew Cibor. That 180-day order was based on crash numbers before and after the stop signs were removed.
Much of the talk from the dais on Wednesday was driven by two “whereas” clauses in the ordinance:
WHEREAS, the Common Council wishes to work with the City Engineer, Planning and Transportation staff and other relevant city staff to consider traffic control devices, traffic calming measures, and safety interventions other than multi-stop intersections to mitigate the possibility of collisions along the 7-Line project, while still maintaining its effectiveness as a priority transit and bicycle corridor; and
WHEREAS, the City Engineer, Planning and Transportation staff, and other relevant city staff have agreed to work with interested council members to collaborate on these potential safety interventions;
Councilmember Hopi Stosberg cited the “whereas” clauses as part of the presentation of the ordinance, which she put forward with Matt Flaherty and Kate Rosenbarger.
Stosberg put it like this: “One of the things I want to make sure to acknowledge is that people are concerned about this corridor and that we don’t just want to stop talking about it—that we don’t just want to say ‘Codify Dunn and 7th where everybody agrees’, and then we’re going to stop worrying about it.”
Stosberg added, “We want to continue worrying about it.” She added, “We want to continue thinking about how it can maintain its effectiveness for priority transit and cycling and also improve in other ways for safety and comfort.”
Andy Ruff, along with Dave Rollo, had put forward an ordinance in May of this year, that that would have added back into city code all-way stops at a total of five 7th Street intersections. But the city council defeated it on a 7–2 vote.
On Wednesday, Ruff questioned the actual benefit of the 7-Line, based in part on his own experience as a cyclist, navigating Bloomington’s streets. Ruff was not convinced that the claimed increases in bicycle traffic in the 7th Street corridor reflected a net increase in bicycle trips in the city, but instead meant that traffic had shifted to 7th Street from other routes.
Stosberg countered by saying that it matters from a climate perspective, whether it’s more net bicycle trips, but not from the perspective of safety. If the 7-Line diverts cyclists from other streets because it’s “a safer place for cyclists to be,” then the 7-Line can be called a success, Stosberg said.
In October of last year, the council passed an ordinance that codified the reinstallation of not just the
7th-and-Dunn stop signs, but also three others. That ordinance was vetoed by then-mayor John Hamilton, and not overridden by the council.
