These citations indicate the need for Bloomington City Engineering Department to regulate B-line closures because B-line is public right-of-way and regulating closures to public right-of-way is engineering's job.
"... to encourage the planning of recreation trails in connection with the recreation and transportation planning for metropolitan and other urban areas."
page 36: "For the purposes of this plan the routes identified on the maps within it are for specific bicycle and pedestrian transportation facilities"
page 21: B-line is specified as a High Priority Project
"In 2003, then-Mayor John Fernandez announced that the city scored a $5.4 million grant from the Indiana Department of Transportation for the project. The city has also committed thousands of dollars into a "greenways fund" for such projects."
"The transportation department is the agency through which the $5.4 million Federal Highway Administration grant funding for the trail was arranged and serves, essentially, as project manager. Bloomington has an April deadline to submit what it termed a "95 Percent Drawing" to the state, something very close to finished plan for phase one of B-Line."
page 17: B-line (also referenced by the LRTP - Long Range Transportation Plan)
(d) "Practice of engineering" means any service or creative work that the adequate performance of requires engineering education, training, and experience in the application of special knowledge of the mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences ...
A person who: (1) practices or offers to practice engineering with out being registered or exempted under the laws of this state; ... commits a Class B misdemeanor
(a) A county, city, town, township, school corporation, or other political subdivision of this state may not engage in the construction or maintenance of any public work involving the practice of engineering for which plans, specifications, and estimates have not been prepared, certified, and sealed by, and the construction and maintenance executed under the direct supervision of, a professional engineer.
03 The decision to use a particular device at a particular location should be made on the basis of either an engineering study or the application of engineering judgment ... this Manual should not be considered a substitute for engineering judgment.
01 The responsibility for the design, placement, operation, maintenance, and uniformity of traffic control devices shall rest with the public agency or the official having jurisdiction ... 23 CFR 655.603 adopts the MUTCD as the national standard for all traffic control devices installed on any street, highway, bikeway, or private road
The traffic engineer shall: ... (4) direct the use of all traffic signs, traffic signals, and paint markings, except on streets traversed by state highways;
Jurisdictions, or owners of private roads open to public travel, with responsibility for traffic control that do not have engineers on their staffs who are trained and/or experienced in traffic control devices should seek engineering assistance from others, such as the State transportation agency, their county, a nearby large city, or a traffic engineering consultant.
07 C. Pedestrians should be provided with a convenient and accessible path that replicates as nearly as practical the most desirable characteristics of the existing sidewalk(s) or footpath(s).
11 D. The width of the existing pedestrian facility should be provided for the temporary facility if practical. ...
... Within the downtown overlay, a walkaround 8 feet in width should be provided when possible.
... in considering tradeoffs between modes, including in the context of construction, pedestrians should receive the greatest priority ...
Any person desiring to close, prohibit access to, or make any opening or excavation contemplated by this chapter shall file the following with the transportation and traffic engineer, or their designees: ...
... multiuse trails are shared-use facilities that are separate from roadways and in their own right-of-way.
Purpose of the Master Thoroughfare Plan (MTP):
* Preserve and establish rights of way.
...
(a) The board has, subject to statute and to the right given by section 5 of this chapter to other municipalities within the district to operate separate parks and recreational facilities, exclusive control of all property within the district used for park purposes.
(3) Make rules not in conflict with statutes or the ordinances of the city for the management of the property under its control.