Council delays vote on making Kirkwood Avenue a permanent seasonal pedestrian zone

The Bloomington Common Council on May 20 debated a proposal to codify a seasonal pedestrian closure for blocks of Kirkwood Avenue between April and November but voted to delay a final decision until June 3.

Council members introduced Ordinance 2026-12 on first reading and framed it as an effort to move the street from a year-to-year pilot into a predictable seasonal program that would allow businesses and the city to invest in permanent, ADA-compliant infrastructure. Council Member Daly, a sponsor, said codifying a seasonal closure would "unlock budgetary uncertainty" and allow the city and private businesses to buy higher-quality fixtures, ramps and seating rather than the temporary solutions used during pilot years.

Opposition and questions centered on operational logistics and the city’s legal authority. Director Cooper Smith (Economic & Sustainable Development) told council staff and current contractor capacity would make programming a full closure this season difficult without additional funding. Several councilors, and speakers from the public, raised concerns about lost parking in front of the library, access for people with disabilities (Stone Belt and First Christian Church were cited as examples) and how deliveries, emergency access and Bloomington Transit would operate.

Council Member Rosenberger and others asked whether the city engineer’s authority to temporarily reopen a closed street in emergencies was properly limited. Council Attorney Allen advised on the statutory framework and said his initial read suggested the council does have authority under Title 15 but that he would review any administration legal memoranda and return with a fuller analysis.

The Transportation Commission heard the ordinance as a discussion item and scheduled a special session for June 8 to deliberate and possibly issue a formal recommendation for the council’s June 10 meeting. Council moved by vote to take the ordinance up on June 3 so there is time for further information, including a transportation-commission recommendation and additional staff memos.

Public comments were mixed: neighborhood residents and preservation advocates praised the proposal for improving downtown quality of place and safety; business groups, including the Greater Bloomington Chamber, supported the concept but urged that the city first fund the systems and maintenance needed for a permanent seasonal pedestrian district; other residents raised concerns about lost parking and questioned the accuracy of pedestrian-visit data cited by staff. One commenter flagged methodology issues with vendor-supplied foot-traffic data (Placer.ai).

Next steps: sponsors asked staff for a written memo clarifying code authority and an implementation plan showing what could be delivered this season versus what would require budget changes. The Transportation Commission’s June 8 special meeting is expected to provide a formal recommendation before the council reconvenes the matter.