$873K contract for greenway, other work awarded by Bloomington board of public works

Bloomington board of public works from left: Jane Kupersmith, Elizabeth Karon, Kyla Cox Deckard (Dec. 19, 2023)

Bloomington senior project engineer Neil Kopper (Dec. 19, 2023)

Bloomington bicycle and pedestrian coordinator Hank Duncan (Dec. 19, 2023)

Bloomington resident Virginia Southern (Dec. 19, 2023)

Bloomington resident Eric Ost (Dec. 19, 2023)

Betty Rose Nagle delivers comment from the public mic to Bloomington’s board of public works. (Dec. 19, 2023)

Link to dynamic version of map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1JgunFx8n1eAHpNNgmEaTqAqQnktCZAI&usp=sharing

From the construction schematics for the Hawthorne-Weatherstone greenway.

Hawthorne looking south. The image is from Google Street View.

Awarded to E&B Paving by Bloomington’s board of public works on Tuesday was a $873,378 construction contract that includes the Hawthorne-Weatherstone neighborhood greenway project.

The project is a north-south connection running through central Bloomington, between 3rd Street on the north end to Hillside Drive on the south.

All other things being equal, the project would probably start construction when the weather is warm enough—in late March or early April.

But based on remarks by city staff at the meeting, Kerry Thomson’s incoming mayoral administration will have a chance to scrutinize the project before it proceeds.

Part of that scrutiny could include a review of the project’s compliance with the letter of state fire code. Continue reading “$873K contract for greenway, other work awarded by Bloomington board of public works” →

On 4–5 vote, city council rejects direct oversight of Bloomington traffic calming, greenways program

Bloomington’s city council meeting. (May 10, 2023)

Bloomington city council president Sue Sgambelluri. (May 10, 2023)

Tracy Bee spoke against the ordinance. (May 10, 2023)

Katie Yoder spoke against the ordinance. (May 10, 2023)

Pauly Tarricone spoke against the ordinance. (May 10, 2023)

Greg Alexander spoke against the ordinance. (May 10, 2023)

Bicycle and pedestrian coordinator Hank Duncan (May 10, 2023)

Jack Wanninger spoke against the ordinance. (May 10, 2023)

On a vote split along familiar lines, Bloomington’s city council has rejected an ordinance that would have required council approval for the installation of new traffic calming and greenway projects.

The vote came on Wednesday night just a few minutes before midnight, at a meeting that started at 6:30 p.m. The ordinance, which was sponsored by Dave Rollo failed on a 4–5 vote.

It was a familiar 4-4 split, with Sue Sgambelluri providing the deciding vote to give one side a majority.

Supporting the ordinance were Rollo, Jim Sims, Ron Smith, and Susan Sandberg. Voting against it were Sgambelluri, Matt Flaherty, Kate Rosenbarger, Isabel Piedmont-Smith, and Steve Volan.

The outcome hung in the balance until Sgambelluri weighed in. As council president and chair of the meeting, she was last to offer her view.

Continue reading “On 4–5 vote, city council rejects direct oversight of Bloomington traffic calming, greenways program” →

Bike-ped group advises against direct oversight of traffic calming projects by Bloomington city council

May 8, 2023 meeting of the bicycle and pedestrian safety commission. Clockwise from left corner of the frame: Zac Hunec, Mitch Rice, Paul Ash, Pauly Tarricone, Hank Duncan (staff), Ryan Robling (staff), Rob Danzman, Ann Edmonds, and Jaclyn Ray.

On a unanimous vote of its seven members on Monday night, Bloomington’s bicycle and pedestrian safety commission (BPSC) recommended that the city council not adopt an ordinance that would establish the council as the decision maker on traffic calming and greenway projects.

The ordinance appears on the city council’s Wednesday (May 10) meeting agenda.

The council had postponed consideration of the law at its meeting last week, specifically in order to give the BPSC a chance to weigh in on the latest version of the ordinance. Continue reading “Bike-ped group advises against direct oversight of traffic calming projects by Bloomington city council” →