Four new speed bumps and two speed bump signs are being put in on East Maxwell Lane between Henderson Street and Woodlawn Avenue following a request from the people who live there.
Ryan Robling, planning and services manager for the city’s Planning and Transportation Department, said these new speed bumps are a result of a process called the Resident-Led Traffic Calming Program, which is part of the Traffic Calming and Greenways Program started by the city three years ago.
Read more: How does Bloomington decide where to place traffic calming projects?
According to a memorandum from the Planning and Transportation Department, the main goal of the resident-led program is to “respond to conditions which support illegal speeding on residential streets.”
“The residents along that Maxwell area requested it. Then, it went through the bicycle-pedestrian safety commission for review,” Robling said. “There’s criteria that they have to meet in order to get approval.”
The proposed projects are evaluated on a point system, and the project with the most points gets top priority. The East Maxwell Lane project was the highest ranking project of 2022 due to the number of crashes caused by speeding.
Cars on East Maxwell Lane were traveling at a higher than expected speed, Robling said, and the speed bumps will slow the vehicles down and are designed to make bicyclists riding on the street easier to see.
Residents of the area requested the traffic calming devices last year, and construction began yesterday. It is roughly an 18-month process from the request to completion.
Robling said the city’s goal is to protect all users of the road, but especially the most vulnerable: bicyclists and pedestrians.
All applications have been submitted for 2024 projects, and the next step is approval by the bicycle-pedestrian safety commission, where people can come to support their local projects.