My Experience
Having never walked the B-Line in any capacity before, I wanted to experience most of the trail to really get a sense for what it is when writing this blog. I started my journey by getting on at the nearest point to my apartment which is seventh street. I then followed the path all the way south to the end and back, for a nearly five-mile loop.
The sensory feeling when walking down the path is very serene. Despite the fact that you walk past several large buildings, abandoned factories, and small businesses, the natural feel and smell was prevalent, with no parts being unbearable to walk through. Every place along the portion of the path that I walked on was very clean of trash or sticks, leaves, etc.
Encountering several small businesses that I hadn’t seen before also gave me pause and created interest to check them out. There are places that look like they would be very pleasant to get drinks along the path. The other place that I had not experienced before was the Switchyard Park. The number of activities and high-quality equipment vastly exceeded my expectations. In addition, the expansive grassy areas, long dog park and the seating areas make it a great community gathering place.
I took this walk around 4:00 pm on a weekday and I encountered all different types of people on the path. It ranged from young children playing around (especially by the park in the Switchyard Park) all the way to elderly people going for a stroll. At almost every age there were bike riders, joggers, and walkers, with the occasional scooter rider or skateboarder. It was also apparent that the reason for people’s use of the B-Line was different since some were using it for leisure or exercise, while others were using it to get to a destination.
The majority of the trail runs north-south, meaning that it intersects many of the major east-west roads in the heart of Bloomington. The crosswalks are clearly marked so cars will yield for people, which also makes these great entry points. The wayfinding solution here is especially good, with street names in brick at every road crossing, and signs along the path for landmarks and directions. This is helpful as a tool for those that rely on it for transportation, making it easy to traverse from one end of the city to the other. There are also Bus Stops along the path, specifically one by Kroger where it is a very central and convenient connection point.
With the different land uses I mentioned around the path including residential, small business, industrial, and park areas, you get the full Bloomington (minus IU campus) when walking down the B-Line. One of the most prominent elements that ties the whole path together is the art that you encounter. The walls of most buildings along the path have some sort of mural, sculpture, or graffiti art that really shows the personality of the city. There is also a juxtaposition of the more natural feel you encounter at the Switchyard Park, which is further away from the downtown area of the city. This is an important representative element of Bloomington, especially IU’s campus.
Smart City Opportunities
There are several smart city solutions along the B-Line, but that doesn’t mean it has everything covered. For example, the path is lined with lights almost everywhere you look. The government’s official web page about the B-Line says that they are “energy efficient LED lights” that are on “from dusk to dawn”. This is a great solution for keeping the area safe and usable during all hours of the day, but there is a great opportunity to harness solar power here. Along the path there is such an abundance of these lights/poles that could not only be solar powered themselves, but act as solar energy collection hubs for other potential smart city technologies. This solution is great for the environment by even further reducing the energy needed to keep the path lit while also enabling additional implementations in the future.
One such example for a potential implementation is a replacement for the current community boards and information stands. These appear along the path in many different spots to point out landmarks or show information on Bloomington events and destinations. The community boards specifically function by providing a clean looking board with images and a QR code that you can scan to navigate to the page you are interested in. Replacing this with an electronic kiosk option could be a much more useful tool for walkers. By creating a digital hub, you can bridge the age gap for the elderly who don’t know how to use a QR code, or the technology gap for those who don’t have a phone capable. Storing all of this important information would also allow for more comprehensive and dynamic visuals for those walking by or interacting with the digital kiosk. This option would not have to replace every physical stand that exists but would be nice to have at the major entry points or landmarks on the B-Line. The potential of combining this with solar power also makes it much more attractive and feasible an option as well.
Conclusion
The B-Line is a well-realized concept of what a fully community-immersive trail experience can be. It features many technical qualities that you would want for a busy path such as a large width and wayfinding, but it also includes pieces of Bloomington’s community in the way it interacts with the art along the buildings, small businesses, neighborhoods, and the Switchyard Park. The experience of walking along the path is fantastically engaging while still remaining public space usable in any way you would like. It is also wholly non-intrusive to the community around it as the crosswalks are clearly marked, there are bridges over larger main roads, and parking is available at multiple points along the path.
Sources
B-Line Trail Map – City of Bloomington, Indiana. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2023, from https://bloomington.in.gov/sites/default/files/2017-06/b-line-trail-map.pdf
B-Line Trail. City of Bloomington. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2023, from https://bloomington.in.gov/parks/trails/b-line-trail
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