Traffic headaches around Bloomington schools have city leaders eyeing changes

Traffic is bad and getting worse around Bloomington Jefferson High School and Olson Middle School, and safety worries are pushing the city to consider changes.

Students' and families' transportation habits have changed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more families dropping off and picking up their children from school instead of relying on buses. The growing number of cars has been an especially big problem on 102nd Street in Bloomington, where Jefferson and Olson have the same start time, causing traffic to pile up.

Not only is the traffic a headache, but the cars pose a danger to students who walk to school, officials say.

"It gets very congested in the morning and afternoon during drop-off and pick-up," school district spokesman Rick Kaufman said. "We have concerns about students' safety."

There are several reasons the traffic is getting worse, Kaufman said. Fewer students are riding the bus, he said — some parents have lingering COVID-19 concerns, and some who have been working from home since 2020 have more time for drop-off and pick-up without their own commutes.

Fewer high school students are driving themselves to school than before the pandemic, Kaufman said, though the number of students who take their own cars to school has been dropping for some time.

City leaders have taken notice of the traffic and safety worries. The federally funded Safe Routes to School program has already enabled Bloomington to build more sidewalks leading to local schools.

This summer, some of the driveways in and out of Jefferson and Olson will be reconfigured, said Amy Marohn, Bloomington's assistant traffic engineer, and new sidewalks will be added. The sidewalks will be placed so students don't have to cross in front of as many cars entering and exiting school driveways.

But Kaufman said school officials are also worried about students crossing 102nd Street. The street does not have turn lanes, so traffic often backs up behind cars waiting to turn.

Sometimes, a driver accelerates to dart the line of turning cars — and Kaufman said there have been too many close calls with students trying to cross the street. District officials hope to see turn lanes on 102nd Street, as well as measures to slow traffic during school hours.

Bloomington is considering school-zone speed limits of 20 mph during school hours, as part of a citywide consideration of lower speed limits on most neighborhood streets.