Case Date:

7/15/2020

Why don't all bad sidewalks or poor people at least get to use the city sidewalk fund? I'm not sure how it works but doesn't seem many people get access. And the zones they talk about are years old. Pretty sure there was a recent study that has new zones. Parts of the east side have horribly deteriorated sidewalk infrastructure and is already too reliant on cars; they should be eligible too. Please talk to whoever does poor areas of town to confirm areas of eligibilty. This should be citwide.

Case Date:

3/11/2024

Hi, there is a crosswalk across Kinser Pike between 2 sets of apartment buildings. The sidewalk ends here, so people have to cross the street to get to the bus stop, gas station, or grocery store. There have been a few times where people have been crossing the street at night in dark colors and it has been impossible to see them until you have just enough time to brake. I think a street light or a crossing light is necessary to prevent a pedestrian incident in the future.

Case Date:

1/25/2014

As a 25-year-old recent IU Bloomington graduate and current resident of Bloomington, I have seen many problems with the snow removal and road maintenance over the past six years of my residence here. But it wasn't until I began working full-time on the west side of town, commuting daily from Seventeenth Street to Liberty Drive (by way of 45/46 and 37), that I realized just how much of a problem this town has with snow removal. First of all, I'm originally from Northwest Indiana, where snowfall accumulates to more than 3 feet at times and does not have a chance to melt down overnight before another snow fall. My hometown gets lake-effect snow on top of naturally occurring snowfall from the months of November well into early March. This weather does not faze our road workers, nor does it deter our drivers. None of us need chains on our tires, plows and salt of our own, or large SUVs with expensive, winter-weather tires to get to work or to school. Because our roads are plowed and salted before we even wake up in the morning. This is why I find it ridiculous that I cannot get to work, schools are closed and most businesses are closed when there are merely three to four inches of snow on the ground. This just blows my mind. As a full-time employee of a large company located on the West side of town, I commute from near the football stadium to the bypass and onto 37, before using West Second Street to complete my morning drive. When I cannot safely make it to work in the morning, it is a shame. I almost find it laughable that this large, thriving city with so much to offer cannot sufficiently provide for its residents a simple task such as plowing and salting the roads. I'd like to reference the snippet provided on the city's street department website as an example of my bone to pick: "The Street Department is in charge of keeping the City of Bloomington's streets free of ice and snow during inclement weather. Whenever there is a danger of icy or snowy conditions on the roadways of the city, the Street Department will monitor conditions and respond accordingly. When snow or ice begins accumulating on the streets, plowing and/or salting operations will commence." Compared to other cities I've visited in the Midwest, the street department here seems lazy and inept to say the very least. In my hometown, the plows work all night, or at least begin working at 4 a.m. They don't wait for snow to "begin accumulating on the streets" until they *actually* do something, unlike what is written in the description of Bloomington's street department website. I realize budgets are tight and have likely already been set for 2014, as far as city services are concerned. But some re-organization of services, I feel, is in order. Some suggestions for improvement of this essential city service would be to prepare accordingly for bad weather by salting the roads prior to snowfall and ice accumulation. This way, as the snow and ice melts during the early hours of the evening, the salt will help to prevent ice from forming on major intersections (such as 45/46 and North Walnut Street, where I almost slid into a full spin this morning while making a turn at 10 miles per hour) and major roadways like Highway 45/46 and Highway 37. Last night, at 6 p.m. when I got home from work, I already had a winter weather advisory pop up on my phone that stated snow accumulation was possible throughout the night, and that ice was possible as well. If I'm just a basic resident receiving this notification, then surely a city employee of the street department would receive it. Or *should* receive it. Another suggestion would be to employ plows that will work at 4:30 in the morning, or earlier, to ensure the roads are clear. I feel this is imperative. Most people who work in this city cannot get to work at 7 a.m., let alone 8 or 9 a.m. on some days, because absolutely *nothing* has been done to ensure the safety of the roads during snowy/icy weather. This causes people to miss work, students to miss important classes and city businesses to lose customers and money. When it all is said and done, I cannot believe that this city cannot take well enough care of its roads - preventative care - to ensure the safety of its roads, when other cities have the ability to clear and salt and prepare for this weather (exponentially worse weather) without breaking a sweat. This isn't just a northern Indiana person speaking, this is a Bloomington resident speaking. And I would rather not have to call off work for a measly 3 inches of snow, when I can remember going to school as a child when there were 3 feet of snow on the ground - because the streets were clear. Thank you for hearing me out and I hope something can be done. Sincerely, Amanda Jacobson

Case Date:

7/14/2020

I was a bit disappointed with the dangerous traffic situation I had to navigate on Monday morning due to the City of Bloomington's careless job site. Grimes is being resurfaced it looks like. I was heading north on Dunn and came to the intersection with Grimes. There was no sign to indicate the road was closed. I could not go straight on Dunn across Grimes because a City dump truck and other vehicles had the road entirely blocked. I could not see traffic to the west on Grimes because a City street sweeper was parked right at the intersection blocking the view (and there was another piece of equipment behind it). I could just barely see the intersection at Grimes & Henderson to try to guess if traffic was coming from my east. The City had a big machine parked just east of Dunn on Grimes that had a dump truck backed up to it for tearing up the road surface. I made a decision to go for it, and turned out onto the wrong lane of traffic to go around the construction. There were 5 city employees in bright colors standing on the sidewalk chatting, just watching this traffic hazard. Other people were driving through trying to navigate the broken up road and the blocked streets, intersections, and egress without any assistance from the City employees on the job. This is dangerous. Just close the road! Or put some people in charge of directing traffic so we know when it is safe to proceed and not risk hitting another citizen or getting run over by the various machinery moving about. This was pretty ridiculous even by Bloomington standards (which, are actually quite low it turns out!).

Case Date:

5/20/2018

Dear Mayor Hamilton and the city of Bloomington, I am contacting you and your office regarding the problem with the deer in our neighborhood. Once again, the deer are a problem for us and they are outright dangerous. I am not sure what the city is planning on doing with the problem, but I almost feel like I want to hire a sniper (and I am an animal lover) to get them off of our property or now purchase a BB gun. I am not a violent person, but I am at my wits end regarding this issue. Will the city only do something once a deer kills a child? I have heard of stories of dogs being killed by deer as well as homes being trashed by deer who have somehow gotten into somebody's home. The latest is that my wife got a broken ankle because of a deer and it required a trip to the ER at Bloomington hospital along with missed work for both of us. Luckily we have health insurance, but for those who don't...it is a very expensive endeavor that could have been avoided if the city would do something to cull these animals. Lately we have seen a herd of 8 deer roaming around Somax. I would like your opinion on how you plan to fix this problem because I do see this as a problem in our city and especially our neighborhood. Also, I heard that the city has a 2 million dollar surplus this year and wondered if that meant we would finally get the sidewalk and repair of the dangerous culvert that has been promised to the former owners of our house as well as to us. Our taxes go up every year (Judy Sharp just assessed another increas of $50,000 to our home value which raised our taxes again quite drastically). We can't seem to ever get a break from her with her assessments every year and it is quite frustrating. Every year we pay more and more taxes and get absolutely nothing for it. Again, I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter. Thanks. Best, Ingrid Faber 1104 S. Covenanter Drive Bloomington, IN 47401

Case Date:

10/5/2018

2 Bird scooter, parallel to each other, taking up half of sidewalk, south side Hunter at Woodlawn. The companies want them convenient for pickup? (Could be worse since there is room still to walk

Case Date:

8/25/2017

Found a drug needle on the sidewalk on North Madison across from Bloomington foods, on the sidewalk of that photo restoration company or whatever. Also, across the street from there in the bushes where Chase Bank drive-in used to be, there are a ton of clothes and old junk hiding in the bushes that has been there for months.

Case Date:

4/18/2018

Hello, My name is Andrew Goodale and I am the manager of the Verizon store on West Third Street in Bloomington. I am writing in regards to the road maintenance and related traffic issues that exist around our store. Maintenance on the Third Street overpass is severely affecting our business and store traffic to the negative. Because Third Street has been reduced to a single eastbound lane in front of our store, customers are not able to access our place of business. Our entrance is consistently blocked off with a line of traffic, and even during the rare times when it is clear, people do not think they can turn into our parking lot because of all the street pylons blocking off our entrance. Further, this same issue also causes traffic to back up on Liberty road which often simultaneously blocks off our rear entrance. This traffic double-whammy is killing our business and noticeably affecting the paychecks of your Bloomington residents that work here. Because there is a Bus Stop right in front of our store, this lane merging is also creating a safety hazard for bystanders and pedestrians in the area, including my employees. Just the other day we witnessed a City Bus hit one of your sawhorse barricades and it got caught underneath the bus. We watched the driver get out, unsuccessfully try to remove the sign, and continue driving with it caught under the bus, dragging it along as they drove on the sidewalk and hopped the curb turning from Third onto Liberty. I would like to be informed what will be done by Bloomington in order to stop stunting our business and creating a safety hazard outside of our store due to construction related traffic signs and patterns. I also need to know when this construction project will be complete, and what is being done to make sure that deadline is met or exceeded. I have uploaded a photo of the typical traffic situation in front of our store, and can provide photos and video of the incident with the bus. Please advise, Andrew Goodale

Case Date:

3/25/2016

Washington & Cottage Grove -- Miller Pipeline construction crew left their equipment blocking the sidewalk after they left for the day on Friday afternoon. This will probably remain on the sidewalk until they return on Monday morning. This seems like a substantial safety hazard, and extremely inconsiderate since they have the sidewalk on the other side of the street all torn up.

Case Date:

2/8/2016

Fallen fence blocking sidewalk