I drove by here this morning. The grass is mowed even though a lawn EXPERT told me not to mow in a drought because it harms the grass. There are some lilies blooming now that weren’t when this pic was taken.

By: Diane Benjamin

The County and the City of Bloomington got together to improve traffic flow at Ireland Grove Road and Towanda Barnes Road. South bound vehicles on Towanda Barnes don’t need to stop and wait for the light to change if they are turning onto Ireland Grove.

Some users should review “merge” procedures however!

This cooperative plan has made traffic flow much better and has prevented long backups that were frequent. The traffic light addition has prevent the many accidents that were happening before it was installed.

Here’s the problem:

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Landscaping the medium was probably an attempt to make it prettier. It also created work for whoever has to maintain it. Since it is REALLY dry right now, it isn’t attractive. There isn’t a water source available unless even more make-work brings it in.

Add to that the workers who weed and mow don’t have anywhere to park that doesn’t create a hazard. The only place is on the shoulder or across 4 lanes of traffic at the baseball fields.

This could have been a rock, stone or brick project that didn’t require ongoing maintenance. How big are those trees and bushes going to get? Big enough to block views of oncoming traffic?

Government could have avoided increasing payrolls by not doing this! Bloomington did the same thing with their sign at Route 9 and Veterans Parkway. Is the one north of town done too? Government shouldn’t be a jobs program with your tax dollars.

I can’t wait to see Bloomington’s new downtown streetscape multi-million dollar plan. I hope they aren’t throwing in walkable brick streets when they can’t afford to save the brick streets they have now. Will it include more seasonal employees to make it look nice? Stay tuned.