The state of Illinois has agreed to fund most of a long-promised traffic safety study around the Illinois State University campus and on Constitution Trail.
Normal Public Works Director Ryan Otto said the cost of the study to begin next year will be $450,000.
"It will start with a larger overall review of crash reports, some surveys of students and community members, to try to identify points of conflict people see on the street. We'll do a deep dive into geometrics, traffic counts, and things like that in specific areas," said Otto.
That in-depth analysis will not happen throughout the campus.
"For areas where we identify in our first glance analysis of the areas that people see most conflicts. Typically, it's areas with the most volumes of pedestrians, most volumes of bikes and cars that will get the most attention," said Otto.
The idea for the study came up nearly two years ago when a vehicle hit and killed university student Danielle Fairchild at College Avenue and Kingsley Street. Then a year ago, ISU professor Adam Peckdied when a bicycle hit him on a sidewalk in the south University Street area of campus.
A just-announced state grant for the study is $360,000. The local match required for the grant is $90,000. Otto said the Town of Normal and ISU are still in talks about cost-sharing, but the university has been supportive of the project.
"Some of the engineering work can get pricey," said Otto.
The pedestrian deaths led to light and sign changes at the College and Kingsley intersection, to bicycle-scooter and skateboard dismount zones on campus, and to increased campus attention on pedestrian safety.
Otto said the last time the town did a similar study was at the Fort Jesse Road, Landmark Drive, and Greenbriar Drive intersections with Veterans Parkway that led the town to reconfigure those intersections.
"Those are currently under design, funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, to be built hopefully in 2024," said Otto.
He expects the study to begin next spring and take up to a year and a half.
