Kinser Pike road and sidewalks have been destroyed for a long time now after the construction at 17th and Kinser. These should have been repaired right after the gas line construction. Do bad this isn't the Eastside or IU as you all would've had it repaired the next day
There are some new safety concerns since the "Relato" building opened next to the multi-use path between Pete Ellis and the bypass on 7th Street. First, there's a conflict point where the garage exits to 7th street. Cars are already pulling quickly across the path towards the street, while bike traffic doesn't necessarily slow for the blind corner of the garage exit either. I've included a photo of a location where this is handled better. This is from the new development on the old K-Mart lot which also has a garage that immediately crosses a bike path. At that location, green boxes with white chevrons appear where the bike and car traffic cross, indicating to both parties that it's a conflict point. ------ The second safety concern is where the multi-use path takes right-angle turn around the corner of the Relato. This used to be an empty field with great sight lines and now those sight lines are blocked. At this corner I have already seen what could have been a couple near collisions due to the shortened sight lines. A treatment that could help here would be what was done at the right angle turn going into the bypass underpass tunnel-- Add a solid center line going around the corner to indicate that parties in both directions should stay in their lane going around the corner. I feel that treatment has made the underpass corner safer and I think it would help signal safer behavior here, too. Thanks!
Every time I ride on the 7 line, which is every day, there’s some incident where a car almost runs me over. It’s terrifying but I keep riding because it feels worth it. But today, there were four incidents. Every time, I had the right of way. And every time, whoever was driving was completely unaware that there were other people on the road whose lives and needs mattered as much as theirs do. And despite my having the right of way, they all came close to plowing me over because they weren’t looking. Even when they would have clearly seen me riding ahead of them before they came to an intersection to turn. I don’t know if there need to be more signs, or speed bumps, or driver education, or making cars illegal unless you’re disabled. But whatever the case, something major needs to happen if this city is going to be safe for bikers and pedestrians. I am fed up with risking my life every day and trying to adapt to a city that is built around cars and not human bodies. When are we going to prioritize all other modes of transportation over cars, which are deadly machines that emit toxic fumes? Why is there a new parking garage but there’s no way to bike to the east side? I’m tired of feeling like I could be killed at any moment because of some stranger’s lapse in judgment. Also, there’s been broken glass in the 7 line just east of walnut for like 3 days.
Good Morning, I received the following email message from Frances Elizabeth Sheets <fsheets@iu.edu> dated Fri, Sep 2, 2022 at 12:11 PM To: "martipa@bloomington.in.gov" <martipa@bloomington.in.gov> "To whom it may concern, Let me get right down to business: 7th street is an absolute fucking nightmare. I grew up in Bloomington, and now live close to downtown as I am a student at IU. This means that I navigate 7th street every single day. Let me tell you - this is not an easy task. I recognize and appreciate the effort that the city has put into the new bike lane running from campus to the B-line. As someone who rides a bike/electric scooter to get around, this bike lane is great. However, the bike lane coupled with the removal of stop signs between Indiana and Walnut has caused more problems than it has solved. Problem number 1: Absolutely no one knows when it is their turn to go. Specifically, when crossing 7th on Grant and Dunn, cars rarely (in my experience) yield to cyclists. This means that I have been inches away from being hit by a car multiple times while using the bike lane. There is no signage instructing cars to yield to those in the bike lane or vice versa. This is an immediate safety issue to me, and one that is relatively unavoidable as 7th street is the road I have to use to get to work, class, and back home every day. Since there is no bike lane on 10th street, using it as an alternate route is not a safer option. Problem number 2: Flow of traffic. Because there are no stop signs on 7th the flow of traffic is constantly a struggle. About half of all drivers stop and attempt to let pedestrians/cyclists/other cars either cross or turn. However, this often only happens in one lane, which means cars are regularly slowing, stopping, and then having to speed back up again because lines of traffic in one direction form very quickly. I experienced this literally five minutes before sitting down to write this email: there was a line of traffic waiting to turn from Grant, multiple cars slowing down traffic attempting to yield to those at the Grant stop sign, and myself and other pedestrians/cyclists trying to cross the road. Again, this is a blatant safety issue. Problem number 3: Visibility. This is more of a potential problem. Young trees have been planted along the median between the bike lane and the road. When these trees reach maturity, they will drastically lower visibility between the bike lane and the road, making the problems mentioned above even more dangerous. Since the stop signs were removed around six months ago, I have witnessed AT LEAST six car crashes on 7th between Grant and Dunn alone. I have also witnessed more drivers than I can count accidentally turning into the bike lane instead of onto the road. Pedestrians also walk in the bike lane frequently, and there was even a city-sponsored run/walk where participants were blocking the entire bike lane in front of the IMU. As someone who has both driven and biked along 7th, the removal of stop signs has not helped at all. If anything, it makes people drive unreasonably fast or unreasonably slow. Everyone I have talked to about this issue has agreed with me, so I know I am not alone in my frustration. Please, PLEASE at the very least put more signage in this area. It is quite dangerous, and as a resident of the city, the new design makes me question whether or not those in charge of city planning have actually ever driven downtown. I apologize if my tone comes off as aggressive, but in the past week alone I have almost been hit by four cars when using the bike lane!!" Thanks, Pat Martin
This grate is directly in the lane a cyclist would use to travel west on Grimes between Henderson and Dunn Street. Last night a cyclist crashed his well-lit bicycle after encountering this grate in the dark road and with a short, barely visible, unmarked curb next to the depressed grate, he crashed his bike and was transported to the hospital by ambulance with severe injuries. The grate should be in the curb OR marked OR raised to the level of the road to improve the safety of cyclists. All cyclists swerve around this grate during the day, and it's a greater hazard at night.
The 7th street bike lane is terrible. The curb greatly reduces bikes ability to avoid any danger in the bike lane. If a car turns into the bike lane, the biker can't avoid it due to the curb. I much prefer the old setup with bike lanes on each side of the street. I can't believe you wasted so much time and money to make a bike lane that's so much worse than before.
Be advised that bicyclist and scooterists are subjected to extremely dangerous riding conditions while using the 3rd street bike lane (traveling West between Eagleson Ave & Indiana Ave). Both the signage and the enforcement for this area are inadequate resulting in vehicles generally disregarding the bicycle right-of-way in the bike lane. Bicyclists must either come to a sudden and complete stop to avoid colliding with vehicles parked in the bike lane, or risk traveling into busy vehicle lane traffic to swerve around parked vehicles. I experience this problem happening almost every day while riding in this bike lane, and the individuals who are parking in the bike lane are generally resistant when I ask them to move out of the bike lane. A long term strategy that should be implemented as soon as possible would be to construct a raised curb and/or visibility bars along the shared edge of the bike lane/vehicular lane. This can easily be designed to accommodate the busses and university vehicles that need to pull to the bus stops or onto the sidewalk by including strategic gaps. This should ideally be done before a vehicle and bicycle immanently collide resulting in injury or worse. I have tried reaching out to various city and university departments, so I trust that you will consider this ticket or ensure that it is taken seriously and responded to by the relevant department.
Please consider installing larger/louder/more prominent warnings at B-Line crossings where pedestrians and cyclists have the right-of-way, especially where the B-Line crosses near Wendy’s and the old hospital on 3rd(?) St. There are many students here new to Bloomington and may not be familiar with the rules, plus out-of-towners and visiting parents and others. Cyclists often don’t look before crossing. I’m a driver and I don’t want to hurt anyone. If more prominent flashing lights and sounds were used, I feel it would be much safer, as anyone can be easily distracted while multi-tasking, etc. Thank you!
There used to be a crosswalk across High Street connecting E Hunter Ave and the east side of High Street. When High Street was repaved recently, they covered the crosswalk, but evidence of it can still be seen on the east edge of High Street. Will that crosswalk be replaced? I used it frequently to get home. Thank you!
To Whom It May Concern, this is more of a recommendation than an problem. The pedestrian/bike crossing light on Allen St across Walnut is generally pretty good. Currently, there is a button to activate the lights on the sidewalks and wanted to suggest installing an additional button curbside for bikers. As it's currently constructed the median has two cut-outs so bicyclists can stay in the road (which is where we should be), but activating the light requires we ride up on the sidewalk. Most bikers, myself included, just keep an eye on the road to cross once traffic passes rather than hop the curb to activate the crossing light. The problem arises when a driver decides to yield; it's a nice gesture, but with two lanes of traffic in both directions it isn't safe to cross unless drivers in both lanes decide to yield and it's difficult to see over the stopped car to make sure the second lane is clear. I tend to wave the driver who has yielded to indicate they should just keep going, Bloomington drivers being Bloomington drivers they defer to being polite. A button positioned for bicyclists would make it clearer to both drivers and cyclists when it is safe to cross. This crossing point gets a fair amount of pedestrian and cycle traffic, but I don't think it is enough for a button to disrupt car flow on Walnut.