Downtown South Bend and Notre Dame to see improved connectivity

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Downtown South Bend and the University of Notre Dame are getting more connected.

A new trail will start downtown, in the plaza on LaSalle Ave and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

It will run east on LaSalle, north on Hill Street, then northeast on South Bend Ave, and eventually Notre Dame Ave.

It will end at the Angela Blvd and Notre Dame Ave intersection.

Cyclists and pedestrians will then be able to continue onto the Notre Dame campus, or down Angela Blvd on a multi-use path.

The city's deputy director of public works says the project isn't targeting one specific group; it's for the community's benefit. Jitin Kain says it’s all about, “creating the conditions to allow that synergy between downtown south bend and the university campus to occur."

Construction on phase 1 is set to wrap up in September.

There’s also a 2nd project underway, focused solely on Angela Blvd.

The project stretches from Angela at Michigan St. and continues to Leahy Drive, with most changes taking place between Notre dame Ave and Leahy Dr.

Improvements include a new traffic signal at Joyce Drive, new on-street parking, and bump outs at 3 intersections, which will widen sidewalks and shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians.

The work also includes a new multipurpose path from Pokagon Street, west to Michigan Street, which will be phase 1. That construction will wrap up in mid-May.

Everything else will take part in phase 2, which starts mid-May and wraps in mid-July.

These improvements will help to calm traffic and improve safety for pedestrians.

For more information on these projects, visit the city's website.