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Public Meeting Set For Bloomington's Hamilton Road Extension

Map of Hamilton Road
City of Bloomington
The $12.5 million project would finally extend Hamilton Road between Bunn Street and Commerce Parkway in south Bloomington.

The City of Bloomington will move one step closer Thursday to finally finishing off its east-west corridor in south Bloomington.

The city will take feedback at a public meeting from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at the Prairie Vista Golf Course. The public meeting is required as part of the $8 million in federal funding the city received for the Hamilton Road extension project, said Bloomington Public Works Director Jim Karch.

The project would finally extend Hamilton Road between Bunn Street and Commerce Parkway. It’s the final piece of a full east-west corridor stretching from the Fox Creek subdivision to just east of Hershey Road.

“This is really the hole in the donut,” said Karch.

The city won the $8 million in federal funding in 2017. The $12.5 million four-lane extension will also require about $4.5 million in local funding.

The city has been building out its south corridor since the 1990s. But two different attempts to build the extension stalled, in 2000 and 2008, as negotiations with Norfolk Southern Railway failed. The railroad’s line runs right through the area, and the city is seeking an at-grade crossing, Karch said.

“That is where the most important piece now lies, is making sure those negotiations with the railroad continue forward. That will really be that final hurdle to cross for this project,” he said. 

If those negotiations stay on track, construction would begin in spring 2021.

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Ryan Denham is the digital content director for WGLT.
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