Bloomington council advances $12.9 million downtown streetscape plan after contractor negotiations

The Bloomington City Council on July 14 voted to move forward with a multi‑phase downtown streetscape project after staff and the low bidder negotiated scope reductions intended to bring the work within the city’s funding plan. The project team told council the negotiated package reduces the original bid by about $4.8 million and would cost about $12.9 million in total, with a $2 million state grant offsetting most of the price tag.

City Manager JB Jurgens and Deputy City Manager Billy Tice told council the work is largely infrastructure: water main and lead service‑line replacements, storm drainage, fiber conduit and other underground work. “Seventy‑six percent of the dollars that would be spent on this phase would be for infrastructure,” Tice said, and staff said some drainage work would also address flooding in West Bloomington and Central City neighborhoods that were affected during the 2021 storms.

Tice and project consultants said staff and the contractor, Stark Excavating, identified reductions that preserve the project’s look and infrastructure while trimming costs — for example replacing proposed “washout basins” with increased street sweeping and reducing decorative globe lighting. Staff also said city crews will perform some landscaping and construction observation work in‑house to reduce contractor costs.

Council discussed funding and schedule in detail. Staff said the funding plan includes a $2 million state grant, about $1.6 million from enterprise funds for direct utility work, and roughly $10.3 million from city reserves and other local sources; staff characterized the local out‑of‑pocket cost as about $177,000 higher than an earlier budget placeholder when the state grant is counted. Work is expected to begin in late 2025 with phased construction through 2027.

Council members questioned tradeoffs between the streetscape’s visible elements (brick pavers, decorative lighting, outdoor dining space) and deferred maintenance elsewhere in the city. Several council members urged the administration to inventory deferred maintenance citywide and to track impacts of using internal crews on other maintenance backlogs. “Everything that we do has an opportunity cost,” said Council Member Montney.

Tice announced a public meeting on a related question — whether to keep on‑street parking or implement a flex lane that would serve bike lanes and occasional event space — to be held July 31, 5–7 p.m. at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts. He said the specific parking vs. bike/flex‑lane decision will be made later in the process and does not affect tonight’s action.

Council Member Ward made the motion to approve the negotiated contract and funding; Council Member Hendricks seconded. After extended discussion emphasizing infrastructure benefits and the need for strong business outreach and parking mitigation during construction, the council approved moving the project forward and directed staff to continue public engagement and final design work.

If construction proceeds on the schedule discussed, downtown businesses will receive advance notices and staff said they are pursuing lease agreements with private lot owners and short‑term parking solutions to reduce disruption during work phases.

The project team thanked consultants and city staff for negotiation work that staff said saved several million dollars from the original bid estimate and for the grant writing that secured the $2 million state contribution.