New safety barriers were installed the week of March 11th along the dividing line of the motor vehicle and bike lanes on E Third St. between Indiana Ave. and Eagleson Ave.
The City of Bloomington decided to install the barriers after deliberation with the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Commission, Bloomington Transit and IU. According to commission member Rob Danzman, the city had an excess of barriers and delineator poles in storage, so the commission thought the extra bike lane protection would be a good opportunity to implement those resources.
“One of the engineers said, ‘Hey, we have an opportunity to protect this bike lane. We've got this material; we can do it really fast and really cheap, and we can have an impact,’” Danzman said.
With concerns rising over motor vehicles illegally parking, stopping and infringing on the bike lanes, the city felt it needed to install these protective measures, according to a press release. The illegal infringement of bike lanes by motor vehicles creates safety concerns for cyclists, pedestrians, motor vehicles and buses traveling along the road.
The installation may be refined or modified to best suit the traffic needs of the road in the future, according to the press release.
