Bloomington downtown flood control project to close Indiana Avenue for 10 weeks in summer

The the final phase of the downtown culvert replacement project, which began on Monday, Feb. 5, will affect the flow of traffic and availability of parking in downtown Bloomington throughout summer.

The project will affect businesses on Dunn Street and Indiana Avenue as well as people who park in the lots behind Peoples Park and the Bicycle Garage, which now has construction equipment needed for the project taking up to half the parking spaces.

Why do the culverts need to be replaced? What's the timeline?

Thomas Gott, project superintendent for Milestone Contractors, the contractor that has worked on the Hidden River Pathway Project that began in 1999. This final portion of the project was scheduled to begin in January, but relocating utilities took longer than anticipated. Even so, Gott said he expects the project to end on time. The final portion will close Indiana Avenue for 10 weeks but should be complete by the time Indiana University students return for the fall semester.

Gott said replacing the culvert pipes that were installed in the early 1900s will improve drainage of stormwater from Campus River through downtown and then south to the point near First Street where the water flows into Clear Creek. The previous portions of the culvert replacement have already lessened flooding in the downtown area, he said.

"I take these projects pretty serious and close to heart," he said. "This project has been needed for years."

Gott said the same two crews who worked on the last phase of the culvert replacement project will be working on this final phase. Crews will begin by placing precast sections of the 22-foot-by-5-foot concrete tunnel in place in the alley between Dunn Street and Indiana Avenue.

During all phases of the project, Dunn Street and Kirkwood Avenue will remain open, although one lane of traffic on Dunn may be closed at times. "There's no closures on Kirkwood but they may see more traffic," he said.

The 5 phases of the Bloomington downtown flood control project

In total there are five phases of the project that basically are doubling the size of the tunnels that carry stormwater under the downtown area. The current project's budget is $3.6 million, according to Holly McLauchlin, communications manager for Bloomington Utilities, that was funded from the stormwater rate increase that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.

The first phase began Feb. 5. Workers are setting up the staging area in the IU parking lot behind the Bicycle Garage and are relocating the sanitary interceptor, which collects and holds contaminants in the stormwater. The alley at Dunn Street will be closed while the interceptor work is done and one lane of Indiana Avenue will be closed. The work was expected to begin in January but was delayed because of moving of utilities.

Next, the first section of the new culvert will be placed in the alley. It is expected to take 4-6 weeks and was to begin in early February.

The middle section of the new culvert in the alley then will be put in place and that is expected to take 4-6 weeks. Some parking lanes along the eastern end of Kirkwood Avenue will be affected and parking spaces on the north side of the street will be closed except for deliveries and trash access.

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As the work continues, the alley at Indiana Avenue will be closed, but Kirkwood Avenue will return to normal. It should take 4 weeks to complete and is expected to be done by May.

The project will wrap with a closure of Indiana Avenue between Kirkwood and Sixth Street. Detour signs will be posted. Only westbound traffic will be allowed on Kirkwood Avenue and vehicles will not be allowed north on Dunn. This part of the project will take 8-10 weeks. Indiana Avenue is to reopen before Indiana University students return for the 2024 fall semester on Aug. 26.

Connecting to Campus River at edge of IU

The culvert replacement will end at the edge of the Indiana University campus, where Campus River flows into the culvert. Milestone will reconstruct some of the earthern banks at the west end of the river, using some of the old limestone arch to stabilize the banks as the river enters the tunnel.

Gott said workers will not "handle anything past the culvert," which is on the IU campus.

All the parking lot area will be restored to match the current layout. The alley behind Bicycle Garage and the other Kirkwood businesses will drain better, through three stormwater inlets.

How will this affect businesses in the area?

Although some businesses in the area have expressed concern about patron access, Gott said he has been in contact with all the businesses in the area, just as he's done with businesses along the other portions of the reconstruction project.

Also, the contractors are updating the downtown Kirkwood association at its meeting every month and will give weekly updates to the association, city officials and City of Bloomington Utilities, which will post updates throughout the project.

Reach Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Final phase of culvert project underway in downtown Bloomington