Trail talk dominates Bedford's Stellar Communities project session

The urban trail, which will follow city sidewalks, is in two parts. One is a circle around the downtown area. The other is a spur that will head north from downtown along the west side of L Street and Lincoln Avenue, connect the downtown urban trail with the Milwaukee Trail.

Several residents questioned why the L Street and Lincoln Avenue corridor was chosen and suggested the route be changed. But near the end of the meeting, Mayor Shawna Girgis said the trail’s basic route probably would remain unchanged.

Planning for the trail began years ago, she said, and several routes were proposed and rejected for various reasons. Some couldn’t comply with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. In other cases, the city could not acquire right of way in time. The L Street and Lincoln Avenue corridor was the one that cleared the Indiana Department of Transportation.

“This is the footprint they approved and are willing to fund,” Girgis said.

Jim and Becky Buher, who live at 14th and L streets, have questioned the route for months, saying the street is heavily traveled and hazardous.

They suggested, as they have in the past, that the Limestone Trail start at 10th and Lincoln Avenue, follow Lincoln to 12th Street, head east to K Street, then follow K Street to the downtown square.

That route might be less expensive, would avoid heavily traveled intersections and still serve the city’s goals, he said.

Later in the meeting, Marla Jones, the city’s business and community development director, said crossing at 12th Street had been suggested.

“The opinion of INDOT was that was the least-safe place to cross,” she said, because of the way the street bends at the intersection and because of the trees to the south.

Planners have noted the street will have to be narrowed to make room for the trail. The Buhers and others at the meeting said narrowing the street will make it more dangerous.

Nick Batta of the Lochmueller Group, the engineering and consulting firm working on the project, said the traffic lanes will be 12 feet wide. “The 12-foot lane is a standard highway lane,” he said, noting that interstate lanes are 12 feet wide.

And Jim Farny, also of Lochmueller, said the turning angles at some intersections will be improved for better traffic flow.

Barry Strong noted that drivers trying to cross L Street have a hard time seeing traffic now. Adding a trail, he said, would compound the problem.

Farny said installing the trail will better define the city right of way. For example, he said, cars on one parcel are now parked close to the street, obscuring a driver’s vision. They will have to be put further back on the owner’s property when the trail is done.

“It’s going to be more open than it is now,” he said.

And keeping the trail on the west side of the street means people coming from houses — primarily to the west — won’t have to cross L Street, Farny said.

Dr. Jim Mount, one of the organizers of the Bedford Hiking Club, said the club avoids L Street and Lincoln Avenue now because of the traffic.

“Nobody likes to walk on L Street, really,” he said.

Later in the session, Girgis said some factors, particularly access the Milwaukee Trail, is changing that. “You see more people walking on Lincoln now than ever before.”

Girgis also stressed the city and Lochmueller Group are striving to address issues raised by residents along the street. Talks with local residents and business owners led the city to insist that trees be kept intact if at all possible, that no private property be used for the trail, and that historic sidewalks be kept intact if at all possible.

“We are listening. We’ve been listening,” she said.

“Yes, change is hard. Yes, there are positives and negatives,” she said.

But she said that the trail will be an asset to the community when it’s finished.