Bloomington’s Public Works director said updates to the proposed Route 9 bike lane plan reduces the number of impacted parking spaces by nearly 200.
Jim Karch said the Illinois Department of Transportation accepted the city’s proposal to reduce the nearly 250 impacted parking spaces to just 65.
“Areas where bike lanes would remove parking, there were actually options for us to look at alternative parallel routes,” Karch explained.
One of those routes is Chestnut Street. Karch said those parallel routes were not eligible for parking removal, but still allow for on-road biking.
The changed plans come after the city held a public meeting for feedback on the project.
Karch said areas around Illinois Wesleyan University will lose parking spaces in favor of bike lanes.
“They were actually very supportive of the removal of parking spaces in front of their controlled property,” Karch said. “That really benefits their students.”
The state has not allocated funds for the project, so there is no set start date for construction at this time.
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