By Daniella Lainez

In efforts to sustain more safety following nine severe and fatal cycling accidents in the past five years, the city of Bloomington has begun to develop more bike lanes with a 15-year goal of eliminating all cycling accidents and increasing the presence of safety on roads in Bloomington.

Following this project, the level of involvement from cyclists of using these new bike lanes as opposed to the main road or sidewalk has been hit or miss. Residents of Bloomington expressed varying opinions on the matter.

Bloomington resident and Co-Director of SustainCollins and Sustainability Program Tanjimul Alam said, “I have definitely seen a decent amount of people using the bikes lanes but they are a little confusing and we need more signs to distinguish the bikes lanes, a lot of cars and bus tend to park and drive in the lanes. Overall I think they are useful, but there are some primary concerns such as safety.”

In response to these concerns, Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator, Hank Duncan said, “I think it is a lot about how new this infrastructure is in our city. For everybody it is an adaptation and a change, it takes a lot to change that routine and it is on us to change and understand that behavior for the good. We want to go around to observe people and their behaviors and make sure that each project has its intended benefits.”

According to the Bloomington.in.gov website, in 2019, bicyclists being rear-ended was the number one way fatal injuries were caused between bicyclists and cars.

On Tuesday, July 17th, city representatives Hank Duncan and Ryan Robling held a meeting in the Indiana University Sample Gates to discuss their upcoming plans and goals for bike lanes in the whole city of Bloomington, more specifically towards the work being done on Indiana Avenue in installing these protected bike lanes.

Robling, Planning Service Manager for the city of Bloomington’s planning and transportation department said, “these bike lanes have only really affected me personally, mostly through my job. I do not ride my bike, which is surprising to many, and I am mostly a pedestrian.”

With Robling’s and Duncan’s statement there are some clear inconsistencies with what they are saying and their actions. How do you fully understand the biking environment, behaviors, and culture in Bloomington if you never cycled a bike yourself?

Local cyclist Dave Harstad said, “a lot of the bike infrastructure is often not well-designed and well maintained, it has a long way to go. I think it is a pretty bike-friendly area already and the new additions will actually make it more dangerous for a biker like me.”

These new protected bike lanes also raise concerns about creating very narrow streets and not allowing enough room for emergency vehicles and buses to comfortably go by. In some cases, there have been comments of the bike lanes only allowing drivers to drive at a slower pace and causing traffic to slow or shut down altogether. Nearby businesses, property owners, and tenants have also spoken out about their confusion and criticism on how they expected the city to consult with them about the installation of the bike lanes.

Craig Medlyn, safety director for the Bloomington Bicycle Club said, “In my opinion, the Seventh Street Project has sacrificed safety for speed and convenience and what has happened as a result is that motorists drive very fast on Seventh Street, and it is a very unsafe situation.”

Overall, these controversial bike lanes have taken the city by storm and caused a strong uprising of Bloomington residents’ voices speaking out about their opinions and concerns about these bike lanes. Bloomington’s representatives have firmly expressed that the goal of these protected bike lanes is to ensure the safety of road users and that public feedback is of the utmost importance to them to design a street with improved roads for all forms of transportation.