Updated: 10/31/25

Overview

The Hamilton Road East-West Connection will reduce vehicle emissions, provide safer, easier roadway travel, especially at the Morrissey Drive, Rhodes Lane, and Norfolk Southern Railway confluence, and reduce traffic loads on Interstate 55 Business (Veterans Parkway). In addition, the project will facilitate multimodal travel for all users. The project will allow bicycles and pedestrians access to the commercial areas east of the project by completing a Constitution Trail shared-use path along the corridor. It will also create the potential for more safe and efficient mass transit connections. Finally, the project will boost economic development opportunities in the project area, enhancing access to existing employers and sparking new development along the completed Hamilton Road corridor.

The project is being constructed in two phases. Phase 1, from Commerce Parkway to Morrissey Drive, began in spring 2025 and was completed on September 27, 2025, with miscellaneous punch list items ongoing. Construction for Phase 2, from Bunn Street to Commerce Parkway, is anticipated to begin construction on September 29, 2025, and finish by winter 2026. Roadwork project schedules may change depending on weather and other factors. A map of the project area is included below. Click here to download a PDF of the project map.

Closures and Lane Reductions

Rhodes Lane westbound lane closure to start Monday

Project Description

The Hamilton Road East-West Connection represents the final connection of a 7.2-mile east-west transportation corridor improvement along the south portion of Bloomington on Hamilton Road and Fox Creek Road. This final Hamilton Connection includes 3,000 linear feet of new roadway, from Bunn Street to Commerce Parkway, and 1,000 linear feet of roadway widening, from Commerce Parkway to Morrissey Drive.

Project Map

Hamilton Rd, Bunn St to Morrissey Dr Proposed Split Phases 1 & 2 

Project Map Legend

• Phase 1 - Green lines (widening / adding turn lanes, resurfacing and traffic signal work at Morrissey)
• Phase 2 - Red lines (new road construction including new railroad crossing)

Construction Cost

Staff estimates that the total construction cost for both phases to be $19,699,494. The bid price for Phase 1 of the Hamilton Road Project was $4,698,912, while the bid price for Phase 2 was $16,110,130.

History/Schedule

Creation of an east-west arterial in south Bloomington was formally adopted as part of Bloomington’s transportation planning in 1962 as part of the “Major Street and Highway Plan Bloomington-Normal Urban Area.” Engineers and planners correctly predicted southern expansion of the city. That growth was pronounced in the 1980s and 1990s and continued into the new century.

The growth that occurred spanned all economic classes. The south side of Bloomington has an abundance of housing and includes new subdivisions of high-end and mid-priced homes, as well as mobile home parks for low-income residents. Development in the southeast of Bloomington was anchored by the construction of State Farm’s south campus. The growth in this area created the impetus to create the arterial road, associated services, and other amenities, including the Prairie Vista Golf Course (opened in 1991), and The Den at Fox Creek Golf Course (opened in 1997). The corridor also takes users to Pepper Ridge School and Park on the southwest side, and an employees’ State Farm Park at Hamilton and Main streets.

Hamilton Road and Fox Creek Road were developed into the east-west arterial as funding allowed. Planning, engineering, and construction were a connecting of dots. Only two pieces of the planned arterial remain unfinished: the Hamilton Road East-West Connection and Fox Creek Road & Bridge Improvements.