Bloomington Council Member Grant Walch voted against the E. Hamilton Rd. Connection project at Monday night’s council meeting. Afterwards Cities 92.9 asked him why?
Walch responded, “It’s been in the works so incredibly long and we have done study after study and studies and more studies on this exact same thing over and over again. And is it really truly needed to spend taxpayer dollars no matter where they are from, whether they are state taxpayer funds or federal taxpayer funds it’s still taxpayer money and is it still necessary to do that? And I don’t see the need for that extension there.”
Walch sarcastically continued, “You talk about that east west road there. You know there is no way east west road there in south Bloomington. We have got this little bitty road called Veteran’s Pkwy.”
“We do have an east west corridor there in southwest Bloomington,” Walsh said, dropping the sarcasm. “And you know, we can get from east to west. It just doesn’t seem like it’s a good use of money at all, he said”
Walsh talked about studies on Hamilton Rd. The no vote he cast wasn’t against studies it was against additional funding for design. The council voted seven to one to approve resolutions for additional costs for engineering design services in the amount of $109,000. The project has moved beyond study phases and phase two design is now complete. That equates to approximately 60% of the design work now being finished.
We asked Bloomington Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe why he supported the project.
Mwilambwe told us, “I support it because, like I said in the meeting, it’s going to provide an east-west connection which is really fantastic because right now there is not an easy way to go east and west. So with all the growth we have seen, with Rivian, something that we didn’t necessarily anticipate, that they would get up to about 6000 people, and we are going to need that.
Mwilambwe continued, “So in addition to that we also have State Farm, we have Fererro so all of those people need to get around. We need to find different ways for people to get around the community. And you also heard tonight that there is going to be some additional economic development because we are going to have new roads there.”
“And also Connect Transit is very interested in providing a stop so we can access the VA clinic which will be great.” Mwilambwe added.
We also asked Mayor Pro Temp Donna Boelen why she supported the project.
Boelen said, “Hamilton Road has been in the works for I would say 30 years. The southwest side got developed 25 years ago. The Den at Fox Creek and many other neighborhoods along there, along Hamilton Rd. (W. Hamilton Rd. becomes Fox Creek Rd. west of US Interstate Business 55 (Veteran’s Pkwy). For those neighborhoods to have access they would have to take Veteran’s Parkway. Which, that’s congestion on Veteran’s Parkway.
Boelen continued, “So if you were going to State Farm from those neighborhoods on the southwest side you get on Hamilton Road and just curve all the way around. Well, it wasn’t a straight line you had to get off Hamilton on to Rhodes then jog back over to get to Hamilton.”
To clarify Boelen, currently Hamilton Road turns into Rhodes Ln. east of US 51 (S. Main St.) and then at US 150 (Morrissey Dr.) you have to jog to get back to Hamilton. The new design connects Hamilton Rd. directly so that motorists will not have to use Rhodes Ln and will not have to make the jog. The portion of Hamilton Rd. being designed in effect is a missing link on E. Hamilton Rd.
Bloomington Library Board Approves $12.4 Million FY 2024 Budget
We asked Bloomington Public Works Director Kevin Kothe to explain the project.
Kothe stated, “The Hamilton Rd. Project is the last segment of an arterial road that runs from the west side of Bloomington to the east side and it’s the last section to be improved. Right now it is still a substandard road. You have two lanes. It will connect the last segment between Bunn St. and Commerce Dr. with this project.”
We also asked Kothe about the history of the project.
Kothe said, “The project was shown in the Transportation Plan way back in the 60’s and most of the road segments have been constructed over the last several decades and this is just the last piece to cross over the railroad tracks to finish out that project.”
