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Resident urges board not to close Grant Street sidewalk; board approves FA Wilhelm request
Summary
Greg Alexander told the Bloomington Board of Public Works that a planned Grant Street sidewalk closure would endanger pedestrians and repeat prior extended closures; the board approved the FA Wilhelm/Popppler's sidewalk closure request (March 18–April 10) after the public comment.
Greg Alexander, a resident who spoke during the public-comment period, urged the Bloomington Board of Public Works not to approve a planned Grant Street sidewalk closure for the Popppler’s (Beverly) project.
"If you approve this closure, um that's antithetical to our stated goals and the law," Alexander said, arguing that prior closures had forced pedestrians into the street and that walkarounds must reproduce the desirable characteristics of the original path. He described repeated closures last summer and said short closures often become long, precedent-setting closures.
Kyle Ball of the city engineering department presented the FA Wilhelm request for a sidewalk closure on North Grant Street at 400 East 7th Street to accommodate façade work and final landscaping, with the requested closure window of March 18 through April 10. Ball and other staff said detour signage and pedestrian detours would be put in place and that engineering had considered alternatives before bringing the request to the board.
Despite the objection from Alexander, the board moved, seconded and approved the sidewalk-closure permit on roll call. Staff said they would finalize signage and walkaround measures and that additional Wilhelm requests that exceeded staff support would not be recommended.
The approval authorizes the contractor to close the sidewalk for the stated period; engineering staff recorded a follow-up task to confirm detour details and signage before closures begin.
