CONSTRUCT-LOCK 2018 BLOOMINGTON INDIANA

Construction constriction in 2018 - 2019

THE SITES

1.      I-69, IN 37 @ Walnut St North Walnut Street ramps closed
2.      Kinser Pk - Bridge out
3.      IN 45, IN 46 @ I-69, IN 37 - Right westbound lane closed
4.      Vernal Pk - Occasional alternating one-lane traffic for paving & sidewalk work
5.      I-69, IN 37 north of IN 48 - Lanes closed for paving
6.      IN 48, 3rd St @ I-69, IN 37 - Lanes closed for work on bridge, lane additions
7.      3rd St east of I-69, IN 37 - Normal rush hour backups westbound
8.      IN 48 west of I-69, IN 37 - Normal rush hour backups eastbound
9.      College Av between 17th St & 11th St - Lanes closed for utility & sidewalk work
10.      2nd St east of I-69, IN 37 - Normal rush hour backups westbound
11.      Grimes Ln between Rogers St & Walnut St - Normal rush hour backups eastbound
12.      Walnut St between Hillside Av & Grimes Ln - Normal rush hour backups northbound
13.      Grimes Ln @ Walnut St - Intersection closed for utility work, one lane each way on Walnut open
14.      IN 45, 2nd St @ I-69, IN 37 - Lanes closed for work on bridge, lane additions
15.      I-69, IN 37 between IN 45 & Fullerton Pk - Lanes closed for bridge, median, & ramp work
16.      Tapp Rd @ I-69, IN 37 - Interchange closed except northbound entrance & exit for east Tapp Rd
17.      Tapp Rd, Country Club Dr @ Rockport Rd - Intersection rebuild & signal installation
18.      Country Club Dr between Walnut St & Rogers St - Bridge replacement
19.      Fullerton Pk @ I-69, IN 37 - Unfinished paving leaves very rough places
20.      Gordon Pk between Walnut St & Rogers St - Utility & road work, 2019 bridge replace
21.      Walnut St @ Rhorer Rd - Intersection & lanes closed for utilities & rebuild
22.      Walnut St Pk & Rhorer Rd - Intersection closed for rebuild & signal installation
23.      Sare Rd @ Winston St - Lanes closed at times for work on pedestrian islands
24.      I-69, IN 37 north of Bloomington to Martinsville - Lanes closed for bridge & ramp work
25.      IN 48, 3rd St ramp to south I-69, IN 37 - Yield instead of merge to "protect workers"
26.      IN 45, IN 46, 17th St - Normal rush hour backups eastbound
27.      Atwater Av, 3rd St between Jordan Av & High St - Normal rush hour backups eastbound
28.      Hillside Dr @ Walnut St - Intersection closed for utility work
29.      Miller Dr @ Walnut St - Intersection closed for utility work

KEY

•      RED - Completely closed
•      YELLOW - Lanes closed
•      INDIGO - Places with substandard operation
•      PURPLE - Places that back up at rush hour without construction

THE BARRIERS TO TRAVEL

• Crossing I-69, IN 37 - 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 16, 17
• Walnut St continuity - 9, 12, 13, 18, 20, 21, 22, 28, 29
• Rockport Rd continuity - 11, 12, 13, 17, 19
• Tapp Rd continuity - 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21
• I-69, IN 37 continuity - 5, 15, 24, 25

WHY DID THIS MESS HAPPEN?

Mainly politics:

• I-69 construction took 2 years longer due to Democrat bond sabotage, weather delays, and the state taking over.
• The state is restricting traffic on IN-37 and intersecting roads much more than the private contractors did.
• Contracts for other projects were already let and then were delayed because I-69 wasn't ready yet
• Politicians demanded that the construction be done as quickly as possible, rather than with the least disruption of traffic.
• Lack of coordination between I-69, Bloomington, and Monroe County construction schedules
• Democrats tried to ruin the I-69 construction project, causing delays that exacerbated this problem.
• EPA fines for each month the sewer projects are delayed (9, 13, 17, 18, 21, 28, 29)
• Record rainfall kept workers from compacting soil for I-69 roadbeds and bridge embankments
• Delays in the Tapp Rd interchange work delayed the Tapp Rd and Country Club Dr work.

The combination of all of these projects created a zone where no traffic can pass between the west side of town and the east side of town between 1st Street and Church Ln. No path between the east side and the west side avoids construction.

Bloomington got a preview of the gridlock from these projects on 04/13/2018 when a power failure put out all of the signals on Walnut Street. This made all of those signals become all-way stops and caused traffic to back up on Hillside Dr, Walnut St, and Grimes Ln. Similar backups occurred on 04/20/2018 when a sheriff's car broke down on Patterson Dr, closing a lane.

Another contributing factor is the lack of east-west streets connecting Walnut St and Rogers St south of 1st St:

The reasons for these large spacings were originally a railroad switchyard, a railroad creosote plant, the railroad itself on an embankment, the Clear Creek stream, and a sewage treatment plant.

THE CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE

√   Actual opening date

EVERY EAST-WEST PATH IN MONROE COUNTY WAS CONSTRICTED BY CONSTRUCTION

• Burma Rd - I-69 construction or leave county
• Dittemore Rd - I-69 construction
• Fox Hollow Rd - I-69 construction
• Simpson Chapel Rd - I-69 construction
• Sample Rd - I-69 construction
• Wylie Rd - I-69 construction
• Showers Rd - I-69 construction
• Walnut St (north)- I-69 construction
• Kinser Pk - Bridge out
• Arlington Rd - A mazy way around construction, bridge construction
• IN 46, IN 45 - I-69 construction - lanes closed at the interchange
• Vernal Pike - Bridge and sidewalk construction
• IN 48, 3rd St - I-69 construction closed lanes, severe backups
• IN 45, 2nd St - I-69 construction closed lanes, severe backups
• 1st St - Must use 2nd St west of Walker St
• Grimes Ln, Patterson Dr - Use 1st St, or 2nd St or 3rd St west
• Tapp Rd, Country Club Dr, Winslow Rd - I-69, Tapp Rd, and Country Club Dr construction
• Rockport Rd - Tapp Rd and Country Club Dr construction
• Rhorer Rd, Gordon Pk - Construction, road ends west of Rogers St,
• That Rd, Rogers St, Church Ln, Fairfax Rd, Moffett Ln, Harrell Rd, Rhorer Rd - A mazy way around
• Victor Pk - Connects Rockport Rd to That Rd
• Dillman Rd - Connects Victor Pk to Fairfax Rd
• Walnut St (south) - Rhorer Rd construction
• Smithville Rd, Ketcham Rd - Connects Victor Pk to Fairfax Rd
• Popcorn Rd, Monroe Dam Rd, Strain Ridge Rd - Connects Rockport Rd to Fairfax Rd

Everything south of Rhorer Rd is blocked by Lake Monroe on the east.

STUPIDITY BACKED TRAFFIC UP EVEN MORE

• Detour routes for Country Club Dr, Tapp Rd, and Grimes Ln also had construction on them.
• The detour signs were often sparse or confusing.
• Four detours used Rogers St. At any place where any one of the detours turns, direction signs should be posted for all of the detours present.
• Some detour signs had the wrong kind of arrow for the turn made.
• Some detour signs had misleading arrows.
• A changeable message sign on Grimes Ln said right turn only "at Grimes" (fixed 07/11/2018).
• Some detour signs said to turn at the wrong place.
• Entrance ramps used YIELD signs instead of having proper merges.
• A traffic light wasted time by not letting a concurrent movement go.
• Some lanes seemed to be closed for no reason.
• The city scheduled sidewalk projects on the detour routes.
• Signs were placed in front of other signs, hiding them until the last second.
• 07/11/2018 +, they closed Walnut from Dodds St to Hillside Dr without advance warning or changes in advance signing.

  - Drivers wanting westbound Grimes to northbound Walnut were diverted south at Washington, going a mile in the wrong direction.

  - Update: This was not planned. A water main broke in the construction area.

  - When they put the barricades back where they were after closing Walnut, they barricaded off the northbound left turn onto Allen St that was open before.

CONSTRUCT-LOCK 2019-2020 BLOOMINGTON INDIANA

Construction constriction continues in 2019 and 2020.

THE SITES

1.      IN 46 bridge over I-69 - Bridge replacement - half closed at a time. Ramps closed
2.      17th St - Closed for total reconstruction Arlington to Crescent
3.      2nd St between Landmark and Patterson - Traffic signal changes and add sidepath
4.      Grimes Ln between Rogers St & Walnut St - Normal rush hour backups eastbound
5.      Walnut St between Hillside Av & Grimes Ln - Normal rush hour backups northbound
6.      Tapp Rd from I-69 to walnut - Sidepath construction
7.      Walnut St north of Rhorer Rd - Sidepath construction
8.      Gordon Pk between Walnut St & Rogers St - Closed for bridge replacement
9.      Walnut St Pike @ Rhorer Rd - Intersection rebuild and traffic signal install
10.      Rogers St. @ Gordon Pike - Closed for roundabout construction
11.      IN 37 Martinsville - Lanes closed for I-69 work

KEY

•      RED - Completely closed
•      YELLOW - Lanes closed
•      INDIGO - Places with substandard operation
•      PURPLE - Places that back up at rush hour without construction

THE BARRIERS TO TRAVEL

• Traffic restricted on IN 46 I -69 - 1
• Getting to and from IN 46 when using I -69 - 1
• Restriction when following IN 45 - 1
• Getting to I-69, IN 37 - 1, 3, 6
• Getting to Curry Pike - 2, 3, 4, 6
• Second and Third St used as detours get backed up - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10
• Tapp Rd backs up as a detour - 3, 4, 5, 6, 10
• Walnut St backs up as the detour for others - 8, 9, 10
• Rogers St has a 2-mile detour - 8, 9, 10
• Walnut St Pike has a 2-mile detour - 8, 9, 10
• Rhorer Rd and Gordon Pike have 2-mile detours - 8, 9, 10

THE TIMES

1. IN 46 bridge over I-69 - to 11/2019
2. 17th St - to 09/2019
3. 2nd St between Landmark and Patterson
4. Grimes Ln between Rogers St & Walnut St - permanent
5. Walnut St between Hillside Av & Grimes Ln - permanent
6. Tapp Rd from I-69 to walnut - to 11/2019
7. Walnut St north of Rhorer Rd - to 06/2019
8. Gordon Pk between Walnut St & Rogers St - to 11/2019
9. Walnut St Pike @ Rhorer Rd - to 07/2019/
10. Rogers St. @ Gordon Pike
11. Entire length of 2nd St between Patterson and Basswood repaved 04/2020
12. Entire length of IN-46 from Clarizz to IN-446 will be reconstructed to two lanes with one turn lane and bike lanes and repaved 05/2020
13. IN 37 Martinsville to totally close in mid 2020 for I-69 construction

THE STUPID DETOURS

The first half of the IN-46 interchange closure (May to Aug):

• Traffic on IN 46 is reduced to one lane in each direction on the south bridge.
• Detours are posted for I-69 and IN-37, but no detour is posted for IN-45 which turns at the interchange using closed ramps.
• Only 3 ramps are open: Eastbound to southbound, southbound to eastbound, and northbound to eastbound.
• The northbound entrance to I-69 / IN 37 is closed. The detour goes south to turn around at the IN-48 interchange.
• The southbound I-69 / IN 37 exit to westbound IN-46 is closed. The marked detour goes west on IN-48 and IN-43 to Spencer.
• The northbound I-69 / IN 37 exit to westbound IN-46 is closed. The marked detour goes west on IN-48 and IN-43 to Spencer.
• The westbound exit and IN-45 to southbound I-69 / IN 37 is closed. The detour goes west to Curry Pike to make a U-turn.
• Local drivers can follow an unmarked detour by taking the I-69 / IN 37 exits to eastbound IN-46 and making a U-turn at Kinser Pike.
• Local drivers can follow an unmarked detour by using IN-48 and Curry Pike.

The second half of the IN-46 interchange closure (Aug to Nov):

• Traffic on IN 46 is reduced to one lane in each direction on the north bridge.
• Detours are posted for I-69 and IN-37, and finally a detour is posted for IN-45 which turns at the interchange using closed ramps.
• 6 ramps are open: Westbound to northbound, northbound to westbound, southbound to westbound, eastbound to southbound, southbound to eastbound, and northbound to eastbound.
• The left turn from westbound to southbound I-69 / IN 37 and IN-45 is closed. The detour goes west on IN-46 to Curry Pike to make a U-turn, and then takes the southbound ramp.
• The left turn for the eastbound exit to northbound I-69 / IN 37 is closed. The detour route goes south to turn around at the IN-48 interchange.
• Local drivers can follow an unmarked detour by going eastbound IN-46, making a U-turn at Kinser Pike, and then taking the northbound ramp.

Sometime in September 2019, the section left open for entrances to eastbound IN-46 and IN-45 was closed. This also closed these ramps:

• Exit ramps from both directions of I-69 to eastbound IN-46 and IN-45 - Detour by taking a ramp to westbound IN-46 and make a U-turn at Curry Pike.

Sometime in October 2019, both bridges opened one lane each and the southbound I-69 ramp from IN 45 / IN 46 was closed.

• Closing this ramp makes the detour for IN 45 and southbound traffic go north to Sample Road to turn around. Eastbound traffic from IN 46 must U-turn at Kinser Pike first.
• Local drivers can follow an unmarked detour by using Curry Pike and IN-48.

During the final two weeks of the project in November, various ramps were closed and opened repeatedly as they worked on the ramps. The various detours listed above applied again.

• Local drivers can follow an unmarked detour by using Curry Pike and IN-48.

It's not done yet! Ramps will be closed again starting 12/06/2019.

• They have been closing ramps and bridge lanes in a seemingly random fashion.
• The page author has not yet seen anyone working there as he passed through during the closures.
• The barricades and barrels remain on the sides of the roads when nothing is closed.

12/20/2019 - All ramps on the I-69 and IN-45/46 interchange are open.

MORE CLOSINGS

12/2019 - The Gordon Pike bridge is still not open.

04/2020 - Entire length of 2nd St between Patterson and Basswood repaved

04/01/2020 - Kirkwood Ave is closed from Walnut St to Indiana Ave, with most cross streets closed.

05/01/2020 - 17th Street is still not open.

05/2020 - Orange drums have appeared again along I-69 in Bloomington.

05/2020 - Entire length of IN-46 from Clarizz to IN-446 will be reconstructed to two lanes with one turn lane and bike lanes and repaved.

06/2020 - IN-37 will close in Martinsville for overpass construction.

MORE CLOSINGS

01/2020 - The Gordon Pike bridge opened in January 2020.

08/01/2020 - Kirkwood Ave is closed from Walnut St to Indiana Ave, with most cross streets closed.

11/27/2020 - 17th Street finally opened. A huge retaining wall and wide sidepaths delayed it.

07/2020 - The Orange drums along I-69 in Bloomington are gone.

07/2020 - Entire length of IN-46 from Clarizz to IN-446 is under reconstruction to two lanes with one turn lane and bike lanes.

08/2020 - IN-37 closure in Martinsville for overpass construction is delayed. It is now set for the entire year of 2021.

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Note: Official detours for numbered highways must use actual state highways, not other surface streets. Turnbacks at interchanges are an exception because the interchanges are state property.

PERMANENT STUPIDITY????

If Bloomington adopts that awful traffic plan with no one-way streets, the Construct-Lock would be permanent with everyday backups.

• Replacing one-way streets with two-way streets cuts traffic capacity by 45% for the same number of lanes.
• The signal progression speed for the two-way streets would be reduced to bicycle speeds of less than 15 mph. because the blocks are too short.
• The reduction of speeds reduces the gas mileage of most cars to less than 4 mpg.
• Those who are already not shopping downtown because of the parking meters will totally avoid the area.

  In October 2019, vandals filled many parking meters with expanding plastic foam. The city wasted money repairing them. They should have instead scrapped these machines the public always opposed.

This is a political plan designed to wrongly penalize motor vehicles and favor bicycles. It also penalizes most senior citizens unable to walk or ride bicycles.

And for what? Officials want a "walkable" downtown. Those are rare for a reason: Most downtown areas start at what then becomes the crossroads of two major roads. Unless the state government builds bypasses around the town early in the development of the town, the center of the town always becomes a major thorofare area. This plan is an emotional desire of the officials, not a logical plan.

MORE PERMANENT STUPIDITY????

Bloomington adopts another awful traffic plan with a one-way street, making the Construct-Lock more permanent with everyday backups.

They made the angle parking on Lincoln St between 2nd St and 3rd St back-in parking in 2021. This will cause the following problems:

• Many vehicles are not equipped to be able to be backed into an angled parking space. Most of these have very limited vision in the back.

   (As an example, the page author cannot see the painted lines for the spaces behind him from the driver's seat in his 2012 Chevrolet Cruze.)

• Many drivers do not have the skills to back into a parking space, even if their vehicles were equipped to provide the necessary vision to back into a parking space.
• Those who can't easily back into a parking space will avoid the area.
• The number of property damage accidents will increase due to these changes.

This is another political plan designed to wrongly penalize motor vehicles and favor bicycles and pedestrians.

It also penalizes most senior citizens who will probably be unable to safely back into the spaces.