There’s more construction than usual in Bloomington for this time of year.
Mayor Kerry Thomson said in this week’s Ask The Mayor that the recent construction is funded through the national American Rescue Plan Act, which expires Dec. 31.
“It's a $2.5 million investment in making our downtown roads really work well, to bring them up to speed,” she said. “We did everything in our power to get it done when our population was decreased during the summer. Unfortunately, concrete is really hard to come by, and all of the contractors that work with it are also on really tight schedules.”
Another issue is asphalt plants that close during the winter. That work can’t continue through the cold months.
Major road construction this year included work on Indiana Avenue as part of the Clear Creek Culvert Project.
Read more: Indiana Avenue partially closed for another month
The Indiana Avenue portion of that project is complete, but it delayed other construction projects, including the downtown street maintenance that includes College Avenue, Walnut Street, and Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Street.
Maria McCormick, Bloomington’s public improvements manager, said downtown construction is scheduled to end Nov. 27.
“We didn't want to have Indiana, College, and Walnut all under construction at the same time, McCormick said. “So we waited until the culvert project — the Clear Creek Culvert Project on Indiana — was completed before we started on College, Walnut, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Street, which we call the Downtown Repaving Project.”
County, state-led construction updates
Read more: Ask The Mayor: Bloomington's Thomson on election, low economic growth, road construction
Other construction includes maintenance construction on West Third Street. A portion of South Sare Road is also temporarily closed for a stormwater culvert replacement. A map outlining the city’s street projects is available through inRoads.
The Indiana Department of Transportation reopened to two lanes on State Road 45/46 Tuesday. Drivers will not be able to use the new turn lanes until lighting is installed. That’s scheduled for January. Construction from SR 45/46 to Arlington Road will continue through fall next year.
Lisa Ridge, Monroe County’s highway department director, said there’s no current major county construction, but a full list of road closings is available on the county website.
