Valley View Schools Area - Safe Routes to School

The City of Bloomington is planning to improve bicycle and pedestrian facilities surrounding the Valley View Elementary and Middle School campuses. Some improvements were made to the existing sidewalk and crossings with the 2022-101 Pavement Reconstruction project on both E 88th Street and 3rd Avenue S. Additional safety improvement needs identified for this area are outside of the scope and funding available for the 2022 project so the city pursued funding through a federal transportation grant through the Metropolitan Council Regional Solicitation in the Safe Routes to School category.

The city was notified in January 2023 that the project was selected by the Metropolitan Council for award of 2025 funds. Additional planning and project development will proceed to develop a construction project for delivery in 2025.

The proposed improvements for the future Safe Routes to School Project include:

• Sidewalk with grass boulevard on the north side of E 88th Street; and
• Additional safety improvements at Portland Avenue School Crossing (e.g. pedestrian refuge island, possible location modification and new sidewalk connection from the middle school to the crosswalk)

The first round of public engagement for the planning of a future project was completed in April 2022 and included a survey for residents, including adjacent property owners who received a direct mailing notifying them of the survey, to provide feedback on the proposed project. The proposed project includes sidewalk and crosswalk safety needs that were identified with previous planning and the development of the Safe Routes to School Plan for Bloomington Public Schools and this Valley View campus. A copy of the SRTS plan is available in the Documents in the right hand column. Comments received from the survey will be used to adjust the project scope for the funding application and will guide the more detailed design if the future project is funded. The survey closed on Thursday, April 7, 2022.

Feel free to contact Amy Marohn with comments and questions about the future Valley View Schools Safe Routes to School Project.

This project page will be used to share updates about project funding and future project development and construction.