$496,000 in Federal funds to be applied to studies of Bloomington traffic, transit

The Bloomington/Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s policy committee is reallocating about $496,000 received to conduct four planning studies.

“I don’t think we anticipated there being that much money left,” Bloomington Planning and Transportation Department Assistant Director Scott Robinson said during a meeting Friday.

In an effort to pre-empt additional traffic congestion problems and provide residents with some relief, county officials proposed using $50,000 of the unspent funds for a Southwestern MPO Corridor study. The county would provide the required local match of $10,000. The study area includes roads such as Leonard Springs between Ind. 45 and Fullerton Pike, Curry Pike, Liberty Drive and Ind. 45.

Monroe County Public Works Director Lisa Ridge said while a lot of the traffic congestion problems are due to the construction of Interstate 69, it is a good time for the policy committee to evaluate the west side. County councilman and policy committee memill change commuting patterns and traffic volume in the area. McKim said the study will evaluate how to make improvements that will serve all modes of transportation.ber Geoff McKim said completion of I-69 w