The Bloomington-Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Committee on Friday approved a plan that outlines transportation needs through 2050.
Before its approval, the BMCMPO held three public meetings and received 206 responses on an online survey.
Key takeaways included improvements to walking and cycling infrastructure, a focus on safety and maintaining existing facilities rather than expansion.
Of the respondents, 73% felt safe while walking, 16% felt safe while biking and 44% felt safe on public transit. Pat Martin, MPO director, said the community feedback was similar to the 2045 plan, which the MPO last adopted in 2020.
Under federal law, urbanized areas with 50,000 people or more are required to have an MPO to carry out their metropolitan planning process. Each MPO must prepare a transportation plan for how the area will operate and manage its transportation system for at least the next 20 years.
The BMCMPO represents Bloomington, Ellettsville and other urbanized parts of Monroe County.
The plan previously received a recommendation from the BMCMPO technical advisory and citizen advisory committees. It next goes to the Indiana Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration for review. Martin said those groups do a certification review every three to four years to track the progress on the plan.
Martin described the plan as a “strategic document,” to establish priorities and how they’re being accomplished.
The policy committee will review the Transportation Improvement Program and Unified Planning Work Program for adoption at its March meeting. The TIP, MPO transportation planner Katie Gandhi said, lays out transportation federal funding and logistics for the next five years.
Gandhi said the 20-year plan is not binding but projects included in the long-term plan become more likely to receive federal funding.
The long-term plan also identified projects actively in development through 2030, as well as illustrative ones, which Martin described as more of a “wish list.”
The illustrative projects include a $40 million corridor redesign on East Third Street and East Atwater Avenue and a $15 million multiuse pathway on East Matlock and North Headley Roads.
Jillian Kinzie, BMO policy committee and Bloomington plan commission member, asked Martin what the local government representatives could take away with it. He said it shows what the public values, like mobility and safety.
“This is a reflection of public input, and I think that’s really an important contribution of this report,” Kinzie said.
