A virtual open house Wednesday on the future of Veterans Parkway presented three plans to make the corridor safer and prepare for its future role in the community.
All are projected to make the corridor safer for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. But it means slowing traffic, adding one to four minutes to the drive from Ireland Grove Road to Shepard Road. And, cost in the tens of millions of dollars.
The highway, once referred to as the “Beltline,” opened in 1941, said Jennifer Sicks, senior transportation planner with the McLean County Regional Planning Commission that hosted the online event.
At that point, she said, it “stood way the heck out into the cornfields,” and its purpose was to move traffic quickly and efficiently around Bloomington.
Now, it’s embedded firmly within the Bloomington-Normal community, and creates conflict with the original purpose.
“Veterans Parkway carries the highest volume traffic of any road in the area. The highest traffic portion of Veterans Parkway carries more vehicles per day than any interstate that runs through the county. It’s also, unfortunately, consistently one of the most dangerous and deadly roadways in the region,” said Mark Bennett, one of the project managers with transportation planning and engineering firm TYLin.
It also creates a barrier that divides the community — particularly for pedestrians.
“If you can’t drive, if you don’t drive, if you don’t want to drive it’s very difficult to get across the corridor,” Bennett said.
Intersections
A typical intersection along Veterans has wide right-turn lanes, sometimes dual left-turn lanes and pedestrian crossings that require multiple stops. In some cases, a pedestrian on the northeast corner of an intersection might have to cross to the south, then to the west, and then to the north just to get to a point directly across Veterans.
That process can take upwards of eight minutes, Bennett said.
Recommendations for an ideal intersection would be making right turns tighter, forcing traffic to slow. It also would reduce left turns to a single lane, and have crossings at every leg.
The study cited statistics around every change. Tighter right turns would reduce crashes by up to 59%, it said, while reducing pedestrian crossing distance could reduce those accidents by 30%.
Overall options include intersection improvements, adjusting road width, currently ranging from 11 to 13 feet, adjusting the number of lanes, and specific venues for non-motor traffic.
Three lanes
Option A would keep the overall street width the same, but standardize lane width at 11 feet. The median would be wider, with paved pathways on each side for pedestrians and cyclists. It’s estimated to have “high impact” on driver and pedestrian safety, as well as pedestrian access, while affecting traffic slightly only at peak hours.
It would add roughly one to three minutes when traveling from Ireland Grove Road to to Shepard Road.
Cost estimates are around $77.9 million, with some savings coming from keeping the overall road width the same, avoiding total reconstruction.
Two lanes
Option B would narrow Veterans to two lanes each way, standardize lane width at 11 feet, and have a wider median. It would have the greatest impact during peak hours, adding two to four minutes. It also would have the highest impact on safety, rating “very high impact” for pedestrian and bike safety and access, and “high impact” on driver safety.
It’s estimated to cost is $90.3 million, largely because of the total re-build.
Just the intersections
The third option would focus just on the intersection work. It would have high impact on pedestrian and bike safety and access, and moderate impact on driver safety. It would add one to three minutes of driving time, and cost $43.3 million.
Bennett noted these estimates were preliminary, adding that funding for projects like this often comes from state and federal grants as opposed to local taxes.
The study is currently in the third of four phases that run to August 2026. Wednesday’s forum was the last of three open houses this month.
The last major overhaul saw Veterans expanded to six lanes in the 1990s and early 2000s.
