Case Date:

9/6/2022

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

Case Date:

8/6/2019

Worse than a scooter - cannot get by on sidewalk

Case Date:

8/23/2023

I am a student at Indiana University. The electronic scooters have been insanely helpful to navigating the campus when busses are full or running late. I appreciate the no-parking zones, as they help keep the sidewalks freer of the scooters and allow for accessibile use. My issue currently is that there are official IU Campus buildings registered as no-parking zones. In particular, the Arts Annex building on 12th and Woodlawn. I am asking for the city of Bloomington to work with IU officials on clearly labeling campus buildings where scooter parking zones should be present. Then, the city of Bloomington takes that info to the electronic scooter companies to update their apps and services.

Case Date:

5/13/2021

Student Painters sign at the entrance of Colstone Square at the intersection of Atwater and E Third, in the scooter parking area.

Case Date:

11/8/2018

The lack of shoulders on the roads is a serious problem in Bloomington. I have lived in a number of cities across the US and Bloomington is the first city I've seen that has very few (if any?) shoulders on the roads. This is unbelievably problematic - if someone has car trouble they can't pull off to the side, if you are dropping someone off you can't just pull off to the side, if I receive a phone call I can't pull over, if riding a bicycle you can't ride along the side.... there are a fair number (surely more than is acceptable) of bike and scooter accidents in Bloomington, and this can largely be attributed to lack of shoulders on roads.

Case Date:

10/26/2021

The resident at the corner of Morningside Drive and Park Lane is running a scooter business in his front yard and on the street. He also has a great deal of trash in his driveway, on the lawn, and along both sides of the house. The scooter business involves going around town, picking up scooters, and recharging their batteries. He has two trailers and at least one is always parked on the street. The trailer and the towing pickup typically jut out into the traffic lanes and create a hazard on an alreaddy overcrowded street. I request that the city take action regarding these complaints. Park Lane is a relatively heavy travelled road because it has no speed bumps. Adding these trailers into the mix is going to cause accidents....