Safety concerns dominated the conversation Thursday at the first public input meeting for the North Dunn Street multiuse project.
The $3.5-million project, funded by city bonds and federal money, would add a multiuse path along one side of North Dunn Street between the Indiana 45 Bypass and East Clover Lane. That’s the first street into the Blue Ridge neighborhood.
The overall goal is to improve accessibility to the Matlock Heights and Blue Ridge neighborhoods, and the Griffy Lake Nature Preserve.
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Kendall Knoke, City of Bloomington Project Engineer, said planners will have to balance safety and accessibility needs as the project moves forward.
“The community is very concerned about safety on the roadway,” Knoke said. “We’ve heard things about vehicles traveling at high rates of speed. We heard some requests for traffic calming. We heard some concerns about the cyclists and the pedestrians that use the roadway today.”
During the meeting, several North Dunn Street residents proposed starting construction on the East Clover Lane side instead of south near the bypass. Residents said the complex landscape near East Clover Lane presents
immediate safety concerns as opposed to the bypass side, which is mostly straight paths.
At this point, Knoke said all ideas are on the table.
“A lot of community members said you should do the north section of the path,” he said. “You should start at the Griffy Lake Dam and go down to Clover Lane. Complete that section and then do this section later. So, that’s something we definitely want to look into and consider.”
Another consideration for city planners and engineers will be selecting which side of Dunn Street will get the multiuse path.
Construction of the path might require the city to purchase private land.
Dunn Street also has a unique, large natural gas main underground that could influence which side of the road receives the multiuse path.
Construction is expected to start and finish in 2028.