BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WRTV) — The Bloomington mayor on Monday vetoed a proposal to close five blocks of Kirkwood Avenue to vehicles for 6-1/2 months of the year and open it only to pedestrians.
The proposal affecting the downtown commercial and civic area near the Indiana University campus will be returned to the city council, which next meets on July 22. Six members of the council would be required to support an override of Democratic Mayor Kerry Thomson's veto. On June 10, the council voted 5-4 to pass the ordinance.
The ordinance would close Kirkwood Avenue between South Walnut Street and South Indiana Avenue from April 1 through Nov. 15 each year.
Kirkwood Avenue gained added attention during the Little 500 weekend, when hundreds gathered on the street in the nighttime hours after the annual bicycle races. Five young women were shot during a fight, police said. An 18-year-old man was charged with battery by means of a deadly weapon, and criminal recklessness. He was released on bond while his case is pending in Monroe Circuit Court 5.
Thomson said in a news release issued Monday afternoon that she supports the goal of a more vibrant, pedestrian-friendly Kirkwood, but concluded the ordinance commits the city to a long-term closure without the fiscal analysis, clear funding solutions, or community consensus.
“Many people who supported the ordinance and many who opposed it are reaching toward the same vision: a Kirkwood that feels alive, welcoming, accessible, and unmistakably Bloomington. The opportunity before us is to move from a shared aspiration to a plan the community can support and the City can fund and successfully deliver.” The mayor had a listening session several days after the council approved the ordinance. Input raised questions about accessibility and mobility; shade, seating, restrooms and lighting; deliveries, loading, staffing and customer access; and how the closure would fit within the broader vision for downtown Bloomington.
The mayor noted that the benefits and burdens of a closure would not fall equally across the storefronts that make Kirkwood a commercial and civic destination.
The city is preparing to do a study of the Kirkwood corridor in 2027, the release said. The study will evaluate safety data, traffic and pedestrian movement, accessibility, infrastructure, and the corridor's future economic viability.
