Transportation notebook: 3rd Street bicycle lane south of IU campus slated for harder edge
The bicycle lane on the right side of 3rd Street as it runs along the southern boundary of the Indiana University campus will likely get a harder edge sometime in 2024.
The plan is to install several 2.5-foot long 6-inch tall traffic barriers where there is currently only a painted line, to designate the bicycle lane along the two-lane, one-way westbound street.
The somewhat experimental project was presented to the bicycle and pedestrian safety commission (BPSC) at its Monday night meeting for comment and review, but not a vote. BPSC is not the decision making authority for the project.
The bike-lane barriers could get a decision by the board of public works at its final meeting of the year, on Dec. 19.
Bloomington’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, Hank Duncan, said at Monday’s meeting that if the project is approved by the board of public works, it would go out for bid and construction next year.
Duncan described the stretch of 3rd Street where the project is planned as a roadway for which a protected bicycle lane has been frequently requested over the years. Drivers commonly block the bicycle lane when they use it as a place to drop off people to the IU campus or to wait for someone they are picking up.
The 3rd Street stretch is designated as a protected bicycle lane in Figure 20 of the city’s adopted transportation plan which shows Bloomington’s “full-build bicycle network.”
Bloomington project engineer Kendall Knoke attended Monday’s meeting to describe some of the nuts and bolts of the plan, which include the use of two types of low-rise traffic barriers that the city already already has at one of its storage facilities.
Knoke said that with limited funding, the idea is to try to make use of materials the city has on hand to make an incremental improvement for cyclists. It’s also a chance to test out the two types of low-rise barriers the city will be deploying for the project.
Knoke said the planned spacing of the delineators is four feet between each one—which is the ideal spacing for such devices, he said. He said he considered, but rejected, the idea of stretching that spacing to cover a greater distance.
The devices that are planned for use in the project are installed by bolting them to the surface of the street—they aren’t permanent fixtures.
Knoke and Duncan put the near-term bicycle lane project in the context of a planned future study of the 3rd Street and Atwood Avenue corridor.
The 3rd-Street-Atwater corridor is a pair of one-way streets that could be a candidate for conversion to two two-way streets.
Duncan gave the reason for not constructing something more permanent, like the 7-Line, “We don’t necessarily want to construct something that we will end up tearing out, if major changes happen in the corridor.”
Reaction to the plan at Monday’s meeting was a combination of enthusiasm dosed with some skepticism.
BPSC member Rob Danzman said about the low height of the barriers: “A [Toyota] 4Runner is going to drive right over that!” BPSC member Paul Ash concurred: “The four-wheelers would see it as a toy.”
BPSC member Mitch Rice said that the plan has his support, but he wants the city to enforce the infractions committed by motorists who block the bicycle lane.
BPSC member Pauly Tarricone wished the project were “a little bit more ambitious,” but called the use of existing materials a “really resourceful effort.”
From the public, Chris Meyer, who described himself as an IU staff member, said, “I think this is fantastic!” Meyer praised the use of on-hand material as a way to reduce costs. He asked the BPSC and city staff to keep in mind a “complete street” mentality. Meyer cautioned that some confusion could arise as the bike lane approaches Indiana Avenue, because it “kind of disappears.”
Offering support for the project from the public mic on the Zoom video-conference platform was Greg Alexander, who serves on the city’s traffic commission: “This is so exciting!”
Alexander allowed that not everything would work as planned, saying, “We’re going to learn a lot—it’s going to be an iterative process.” He continued, “But this kind of iterative approach where you do something quickly, and then you find out what works and what doesn’t, is core to Vision Zero everywhere that it succeeds.”
Alexander wrapped up saying, “This is just awesome. I want to thank all of the staff that’s worked on this in planning and in engineering.”
The proximity of the project to the university campus has had an impact on the kind of solutions that the city is exploring. Tarricone asked about the potential for using vertical stanchions to delineate the bicycle lane. The city uses such devices to delineate shared e-scooter parking corralls.
Responding to Tarricone, Duncan said, “That’s something that we partnered and collaborated with IU very heavily on. They are also very interested in keeping that aesthetically pleasing nature to that area.”
Duncan added, “That is one reason why we tried to minimize the use of those delineator posts as much as possible—to keep that view free from clutter.”
