The City of Bloomington has re-installed an all-way stop at the intersection of East Seventh and North Dunn streets downtown.
Installation was completed Wednesday at the intersection west of Indiana University’s campus in accordance with a 180-day order by Andrew Cibor, the director of the city’s engineering department.
Cibor’s order was due to an increase in vehicle collisions at that intersection based on a study of crashes along the Seventh Street corridor before and after the installation of the 7-Line bicycle lane. The study was completed by the city’s bicycle and pedestrian safety and traffic commissions.
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The 7-line is a protected east-west bicycle lane that connects the B-line Trail, downtown, IU’s campus and nearby neighborhoods. It was adopted in 2018.
The all-way stop at Seventh and Dunn was first removed in fall 2011 as part of the 7-line project, making the intersection a one-stop only. All-way stops were also removed from where Seventh Street intersects with Morton, Washington, Lincoln and Grant streets.
A March 22 report by Cibor to the city’s traffic commission says there was a trend of increased crashes at those intersections where all-way stop control was removed and a decrease in crashes at other intersections where stop control did not change.
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“While the protected bicycle lanes are generally operating as intended, the five intersections where all-way stop control was removed … would benefit from modifications,” the report states. “The crash data for these intersections indicates that nearly all reported crashes were a result of drivers on the side street failing to yield to drivers on 7 th Street. In many of these crash reports, the driver on the side street told the reporting police officer that they mistakenly thought the intersection had all-way stop control.”
There were at least two reported crashes involving drivers failing to yield to bicycle users in the protected bike lane, according to the report.
Cibor’s order will last through October 9. Any decision on making the installation permanent will be determined by city council.
Cibor is scheduled to make a report to city council at its regular May 10 meeting, according to the mayor’s office.
