By: Diane Benjamin
I have stated many times I rarely cross Veterans Parkway. I also avoid driving Veterans Parkway. Is anyone seriously thinking of reducing it from 6 lanes to 4? Why does that make me think of the people who wanted to build an East side bypass? Do planners want people crying for a bypass when Veterans isn’t drivable? Bypassing your city is a brilliant philosophy for economic development.
Worse, bike lanes on Veterans Parkway? How many bikes are seen on roads that have bike lanes now? When I was young we were smart enough to know riding on side streets was safe, busy roads weren’t. Are planners really dumb these days or are grants tied to complying with idiocy?
Anyway, FY 2025 and FY 2026 were great for the roads I do use in Bloomington, these were the big ones:
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Look up Bloomington projects here: https://cityblm.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/2f7164aa23ec445bb9e2
Landmark drive between Hershey and Prospect was skipped. Maybe Bloomington will wait until it turns into a horse path before they resurface it.
Thanks Bloomington for finally resurfacing some of the worst roads in the City. They are now great!
Last night I had to drive to a location near ISU. I used GE road. It was very obviously when I crossed over to Normal as it turned into Virden. Normal thinks a $40 million underpass for bikes and people is more important than drivable roads. People get what they vote for, or in Normal’s case, what they stayed home and didn’t vote against.
If you don’t know where the dividing line between Normal and Bloomington is, find the dotted line on this map: https://ontheworldmap.com/usa/city/bloomington-il/detailed-map-of-bloomington-normal.jpg
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Looks a lot like the Illinois gerrymandered Congressional maps.
About a year ago, Mercy Davison, Town of Normal Planner described the planned changes to Vernon Ave. I do not know about you, but I am not looking forward to Vernon being reduced from 4 lanes to 2, left turn lane in the center, and bike paths added! These changes are a recipe for disaster (more congestion, more time to get from point A to point B, greater risk of bike accidents on such a busy road) and very unhappy residents of Normal!
hmmm, what are almost never seen in bike lanes? that’s right – bikes!
Planners recycle old plans like they are new plans per the progressive agenda of fleecing the taxpayers to keep themselves employed as planners. Something new (that is not new) is their sales pitch.
Has anyone been to Chicago lately, the city? Well I have and this street change here is going to look just like that. You think it’s bad now, just wait. Then when all the construction starts in the summer, you will have to to leave for work 40 minutes ahead of time. Also, just wait until the price for parking shoots up. In Chicago, just pulling into a parking garage can cost 46.00 and that is not a joke. I feel like our planners are trying to make B/N into Little Chicago which many of us have been calling it that for a long time.
Like there’s not enough vehicle accidents on Veterans Pkwy already. Mix in some bicycles. Brilliant if you’re pushing for popluation reduction.