Bloomington gets sidewalk report: Did choice of cheaper method mean inflated condition ratings?

The image on the left is one frame from a walking video recorded by The B Square of the sidewalk segment on the west side of College Avenue from 15th Street to mid-block, about halfway to 17th Street (just south of the segment colored blue in the map). As shown in the map image on the right, the frame on the left is part of a segment rated ‘Good’ (green) in the recent analysis of sidewalks, which was delivered to the city by IMS, the city’s contractor for the study.

A new report on street pavement and sidewalk conditions in Bloomington was reviewed for Bloomington’s city council last Wednesday by public works director Adam Wason.

The report included some encouraging news about sidewalks.

Wason told the council, “The good news here is the condition of our sidewalks community-wide are in good condition. And I think that’s something we should all be proud of.”

Wason continued, “Between the increased investments in sidewalk repairs and maintenance year over year that you all, in your role as the budget approval body for the city, and the budgets that were approved for the street division of the department of public works and the private investments of property owners, the results are noticeable and significant.”

But based on just a cursory review of some Bloomington sidewalks in the downtown area, the new report describes some stretches of sidewalks as ‘Good’, even when they include several panels that are broken up, severely sprawled, or uneven. Continue reading “Bloomington gets sidewalk report: Did choice of cheaper method mean inflated condition ratings?” →

Bloomington concedes: Simple tickets can’t be given to scooter companies for bad parking by their users

A part-time temp worker documents an improperly parked scooter at 6th & Walnut streets Oct. 11, 2022

North Walnut Street Feb. 21, 2023 (This scooter was reported to the city and moved out of the ADA ramp by The B Square.

North Walnut Street Feb. 23, 2023. These scooters were reported to the city and moved out of the sidewalk by The B Square.

In late 2021, The B Square reported that no citations had been issued to scooter companies for violating the parking regulations laid out in a local ordinance, which was approved by the city council in July 2019.

When no ordinary parking tickets were issued to scooter companies, that came as a surprise to some residents—given the number of scooters they routinely encountered blocking ADA ramps and sidewalks in the downtown area, or in their residential neighborhoods.

The lack of any citations was especially unexpected, in light of the assurance given by city attorney Mike Rouker on July 31, 2019— the night the city council enacted the scooter ordinance. Rouker said that if scooter parking became a problem, parking fines would be imposed on scooter companies whenever the city saw a parking problem.

In August 2022, The B Square raised a question to Bloomington’s corporation counsel, Beth Cate, about the enforceability of the city’s ordinance that regulates shared electric scooter parking. That email went unanswered.

But last week, six months later, Bloomington’s director of economic and sustainable development, Alex Crowley, wrote in response to an emailed question from The B Square: “[T]he language in the ordinance needs to be tightened up, to give us the flexibility to impose fines on [scooter company] without having to impound.” Continue reading “Bloomington concedes: Simple tickets can’t be given to scooter companies for bad parking by their users” →

Bloomington city council notes: New sidewalks OK’d, but Kirkwood closure, parklets delayed for 2 weeks

Not included on the map, because no locations have yet been identified, is a $50,000 allocation for resident-led traffic calming projects. The image links to a dynamic map.

Two sidewalk projects are supposed to get constructed and another two designed in 2023, based on the Bloomington city council’s approval of its sidewalk committee recommendations at Wednesday night’s meeting.

In other business, the city council postponed for two weeks its approval of what has become an annual Kirkwood Avenue closure, and “parklet” program, to expand outside dining for some downtown restaurants. Continue reading “Bloomington city council notes: New sidewalks OK’d, but Kirkwood closure, parklets delayed for 2 weeks” →

$32K lawsuit payout for scooter crash on bad concrete: A quick look at Bloomington’s plan for sidewalk repair

Looking west on 7th Street. The photo shows out-of-alignment sidewalk panels that have been ground flush. (July 30, 2021)

Sidewalk section on N. College Avenue, looking south, between 15th and 17th streets. (April 26, 2020)

From Monroe County’s Pictometry module of the property lookup system. Highlighted are sections of sidewalk on N. College Avenue, between 15th and 17th streets. Imagery is from April 2020.

Plot of trips by day by scooter company since data started getting collected.

In October of 2018, just a month after shared-use electric scooters arrived in Bloomington, a downtown worker was scooting home late at night, when he crashed as he was cruising downhill on a North College Avenue sidewalk.

The crash, which broke a bone in the scooter rider’s hand, occurred along the sidewalk on the west side of College, between 15th and 17th streets.

The scooter rider filed a lawsuit against the city of Bloomington and eventually against the adjoining property owner as well. The legal complaint contended that the crash was caused by the bad condition of the sidewalk.

Bloomington answered the complaint with a number of defenses, among them that the city “did not have prior notice of, nor opportunity to correct” the condition of the sidewalk that was alleged to have caused the scooter crash.

According to court documents, in late May of this year, a mediated settlement was reached, which resulted in a payment of $11,000 by Bloomington and $21,000 by the adjoining property owner.

If a sidewalk is bad enough to cause an accident, how is it supposed to get repaired? And what is the general condition of Bloomington sidewalks? Does Bloomington have a systematic approach to putting public sidewalks in good repair? Continue reading “$32K lawsuit payout for scooter crash on bad concrete: A quick look at Bloomington’s plan for sidewalk repair” →

Bloomington strengthens local law keeping pedestrian ways open near construction sites

This April 2020 aerial image of the construction project at 14th Street and College Avenue is from the county’s Pictometry module of Monroe County’s online property records. It’s where resident Greg Alexander was flipped off by a skid steer operator operating in the walkaround earlier this year.

At its regular meeting last Wednesday, Bloomington’s city council beefed up its ordinance that applies to the way contractors can use the public right of way, like sidewalks, when they’re working on construction projects.

Highlights of the revised ordinance, which the council approved on a unanimous vote, include conditions that a walkaround is supposed to meet, if it is unavoidable that the sidewalk is blocked because of construction activities.

Under the old code requirement on walkarounds, there was no mention that the walkaround should be on the same side of the street as the blocked route, or protected by concrete or water-filled barricades, or that Indiana’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (IMUTCD) guidelines had be followed, including advance warning signs.

A new section of the code approved by the city council imposes a regimen of enforcement measures. They include the explicit authorization of the city’s traffic engineer to use legal proceedings to revoke or withhold approvals and certificates relevant to the site, and to issue a stop work order, among other measures.

The penalties section of the new ordinance includes a fine of up to $2,500 for a first violation, and up to $7,500 for each violation after the first one. Continue reading “Bloomington strengthens local law keeping pedestrian ways open near construction sites” →