Construction on part of the 17th Street multiuse path will begin this summer.
Once complete, the entire project will connect Grant Street to Monroe Street. The Bloomington Board of Public Works divided this project into two phases March 15, and then approved a $1.2 million construction contract on the eastern portion Tuesday.
The larger, western portion is federally funded and runs from Walnut to Monroe Street. The smaller, eastern portion is locally funded, and runs from Walnut to Grant Street. The path was previously approved as one project with more than $2 million in federal funding.
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“The larger federal contract would have put us into a construction season on both sections all the way through 2023,” Bloomington senior project manager Roy Aten said. “By dividing them up we think we can get the eastern section done in 2022 and the other section to the west will be done in 2023.”
Aten said the contract is contingent on approval by the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission at its next regular meeting April 18.
Milestone Contractors will begin construction after IU’s commencement ceremonies May 9 and wrap up before home football games at the end of August. Traffic heading west between Dunn and Walnut Streets will be redirected during construction.
“There is a benefit to the city by doing this division,” Aten said
