Mayor John Hamilton completes the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
(Devan Ridgway, WFIU/WTIU News)
The City of Bloomington officially opened the 7-Line Wednesday with a bicycle procession led by Mayor John Hamilton.
The city began constructing the bike lane in June and made several traffic changes along the way, including the removal of stop signs and a bus stop.
“Seventh Street isn’t new,” planning services manager Beth Rosenbarger said. “We didn’t say ‘let’s make a new street,’ but our experiences with it will be.”
Drivers turning off Seventh Street must now yield to pedestrians and cyclists in the bike lane, whereas pedestrians and cyclists on the trail must yield to traffic when turning onto a cross street.
Additionally, the city installed traffic lights at College Avenue and Walnut Street specifically for cyclists on the trail.
Hamilton said the project will help create a more sustainable community, while also making Bloomington more inclusive.
“This stuff matters to a city,” he said. “Doing this kind of project makes a difference for the future of the city.”
The 7-Line is currently three-quarters of a mile long, whereas the B-Line trail is 3.1 miles long.
However, the 7-Line will be the longer of the two once complete. The trail network is scheduled to expand east and connect Union Avenue to State Road 46 via the E. 7th Neighborhood Greenway.
“This only happens because our community supports this stuff,” Hamilton said.
The 7-Line is one of four trail projects approved as part of the 2018 bicentennial bonds. Hamilton said other projects include a trail connecting Switchyard Park to the west side of town, a trail through Cascades Park, and a loop trail around Griffy Lake.
However, not all these projects unfolded as expected.
The Cascades Park trail caused tension during departmental budget hearings in August. At the time, several city council members expressed concern over misuse of bond money.
The parks and recreation department used the bond to pay for an accessible trail to Cascades waterfall instead of “a trail from Clubhouse Drive to College Avenue at Cascades Park,” as the council approved in 2018.
Department director Paula McDevitt said the bond reallocation was approved by the city administration and did not go through the council.
Additionally, the Griffy Lake Loop Trail caused a stir at the October board of park commissioners meeting. The bond was pitched to city council in 2018 to improve the west side of the lake near the dam, but current plans focus on the east side.
Under the plan, the North Headley Road causeway will be expanded to add stone retaining walls and a packed gravel path. However, the approved bond specifically excludes the causeway path in city council’s packet from Oct. 24, 2018:
“The Griffy Lake Loop Hiking Trail study proposed the construction of a 1500’ long boardwalk along the Causeway/Headley Rd. however, the additional cost of $1.5M for that boardwalk construction is not included in the Bi-Centennial Bond Project funding request.”
Screenshot of the proposed boardwalk along the west side of North Headley Road. (Courtesy: City of Bloomington)
