Growing Community Resilience for an Abundant Post-Petroleum Future
*urgent* april 27th, 29th and May 3rd Bypass Widening Project
Steve Volan from the city council is holding a charrette to discuss citizen opinions and draft our version of a plan for the bypass. He will bring our ideas to INDOT when they present their plan for expansion on the 6th. The charrette process will be held on April 27, April 29 and May 3. Each
meeting will be from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at City Hall in the Hooker Room.
Members of the public are invited to attend. We should try to get as many members as we can to attend. We can use this discussion page to brainstorm some ideas we could bring to the meeting.
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COUNCILMEMBER VOLAN TO HOST DESIGN CHARRETTE TO "RETHINK" THE BYPASS APRIL 27 - MAY 3
Contact: Steve Volan (812) 349-3565 volans@bloomington.in.gov
BLOOMINGTON, IN -- Is the proposed redesign of the S.R. 45/46 Bypass too big?
Bloomington City Council member Steve Volan (D-Dist. 6) is calling attention to
statistics that beg the question.
"Bypass traffic appears to have decreased, not increased, in recent years. Why is INDOT thinking about
expanding the road to handle up to 50,000 cars/day?" asked Councilmember
Volan. "A decrease in congestion is consistent with city development
policies in recent years, which have discouraged major new development
on the east side and encouraged it on the west side."
The HeraldTimesOnline.com website lists a traffic count on the Bypass south
of Seventh Street of 26,893 cars on a typical day in 2002. INDOT's
website lists traffic counts at that same location as 17,590 cars/day in
2006, and 17,361 cars/day in 2007.
"What is the Bypass bypassing these days?" said Volan. "Look at how much the city and IU
have grown around it. It doesn't go around Bloomington any more. It goes
through it."
"I don't want to discourage INDOT's interest in improving a Bloomington thoroughfare," said Volan. "But I wonder if
Bloomingtonians who put their heads together couldn't come up with a
road design that perhaps more appropriately reflects Bloomington's
needs."
To that end, he is sponsoring a three-meeting public charrette process to "rethink" the Bypass redesign and give INDOT
something to compare their plans to.
The charrette process will be held on April 27, April 29 and May 3. Each meeting will be from 5:30
to 7:30 pm at City Hall in the Hooker Room. Members of the public are
invited to attend.
A design resulting from the charrette will be non-binding, but Volan will present it to the City Council at its next
regular session on May 5, and then the day after to the Indiana
Department of Transportation.
INDOT intends to hold an open house at 6 pm on May 6 in Council Chambers to present their current
plans for the Bypass. According to Volan, INDOT is currently conducting
new counts on the Bypass which should be available before the charrette.
"The charrette is meant to constructively call attention to policies on our
books like the city's Growth Policies Plan, and the Bloomington/Monroe
County Metropolitan Planning Organization's 'Complete Streets' policy,"
said Volan.
"My goal is to bring Bloomingtonians together to collaborate on a design that illustrates the community's values, as
embodied in these policies."
The purpose of a charrette, according to TNDhomes.com, is "to provide public and private
decision-makers informed choices about new construction and
redevelopment opportunities for public and private property investments.
A charrette is an interactive, learning event."
# # #
(Source for INDOT data: http://dotmaps.indot.in.gov/apps/trafficcounts)
http://b-top.org/blog/
meeting will be from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at City Hall in the Hooker Room.
Members of the public are invited to attend. We should try to get as many members as we can to attend. We can use this discussion page to brainstorm some ideas we could bring to the meeting.
*********
COUNCILMEMBER VOLAN TO HOST DESIGN CHARRETTE TO "RETHINK" THE BYPASS APRIL 27 - MAY 3
Contact: Steve Volan (812) 349-3565 volans@bloomington.in.gov
BLOOMINGTON, IN -- Is the proposed redesign of the S.R. 45/46 Bypass too big?
Bloomington City Council member Steve Volan (D-Dist. 6) is calling attention to
statistics that beg the question.
"Bypass traffic appears to have decreased, not increased, in recent years. Why is INDOT thinking about
expanding the road to handle up to 50,000 cars/day?" asked Councilmember
Volan. "A decrease in congestion is consistent with city development
policies in recent years, which have discouraged major new development
on the east side and encouraged it on the west side."
The HeraldTimesOnline.com website lists a traffic count on the Bypass south
of Seventh Street of 26,893 cars on a typical day in 2002. INDOT's
website lists traffic counts at that same location as 17,590 cars/day in
2006, and 17,361 cars/day in 2007.
"What is the Bypass bypassing these days?" said Volan. "Look at how much the city and IU
have grown around it. It doesn't go around Bloomington any more. It goes
through it."
"I don't want to discourage INDOT's interest in improving a Bloomington thoroughfare," said Volan. "But I wonder if
Bloomingtonians who put their heads together couldn't come up with a
road design that perhaps more appropriately reflects Bloomington's
needs."
To that end, he is sponsoring a three-meeting public charrette process to "rethink" the Bypass redesign and give INDOT
something to compare their plans to.
The charrette process will be held on April 27, April 29 and May 3. Each meeting will be from 5:30
to 7:30 pm at City Hall in the Hooker Room. Members of the public are
invited to attend.
A design resulting from the charrette will be non-binding, but Volan will present it to the City Council at its next
regular session on May 5, and then the day after to the Indiana
Department of Transportation.
INDOT intends to hold an open house at 6 pm on May 6 in Council Chambers to present their current
plans for the Bypass. According to Volan, INDOT is currently conducting
new counts on the Bypass which should be available before the charrette.
"The charrette is meant to constructively call attention to policies on our
books like the city's Growth Policies Plan, and the Bloomington/Monroe
County Metropolitan Planning Organization's 'Complete Streets' policy,"
said Volan.
"My goal is to bring Bloomingtonians together to collaborate on a design that illustrates the community's values, as
embodied in these policies."
The purpose of a charrette, according to TNDhomes.com, is "to provide public and private
decision-makers informed choices about new construction and
redevelopment opportunities for public and private property investments.
A charrette is an interactive, learning event."
# # #
(Source for INDOT data: http://dotmaps.indot.in.gov/apps/trafficcounts)
http://b-top.org/blog/
Views: 1
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ann Renee Kreilkamp on
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Thanks for posting this. I will be there, and I hope lots of other people, too. This is a Herculean, last-ditch effort to convince INDOT that it is spending an enormous amount of money to widen a road that could easily be redesigned without widening. The forces of institutional, bureaucratic momentum seem invinceable, even in the face of peak oil. However, in these times when sudden changes are afoot in all directions, this could be one of them. If so, it will be because we showed up as citizens of a city that we love and care for and wish to see it evolve into a more and more resilient, sustainable, people-friendly city of the future.
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Permalink Reply by anne patterson on -
I've rallied a few students to come along- any suggestions of how to bring more people out?
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Anne,
I just fowarded the Volan email to my neighbors on the Green Acres e-mail list as well as the Permaculture Guild list.
anne patterson said:I've rallied a few students to come along- any suggestions of how to bring more people out?
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