3rd Street Promenade (Meeting Notes)

The following information constitutes a description of items discussed at the November 25, 2008 meeting between the Community of 3rd Street and Otak:

Pedestrian Friendly

· West side is hard to walk

· Not comfortable to stroll, not exciting

· Parts are good

· North of Thomas is hot and dusty

· Traffic is bad and mean

· South of Thomas, several locations where there are no sidewalks. Lovely.

· No – not a comfortable street to stroll along – gaps, not as exciting on Central

· Some places, north of Thomas, facilities but not friendly, south of Thomas, attractive but lack facilities

· Best way to get Downtown increasing access from the east to freeway

· Less car friendly not so much; make it less car friendly to improve it, less cars

· Not too much commercial

· Needs shade and multi-family

· Lack of sidewalk is a huge problem

· Virginia and 3rd is dangerous; lots of student traffic on Virginia – intersection is a difficult pedestrian crossing

· Hard to find n/s bike routes east of central

· Nice street to walk on compared to other streets

· Sometimes there are trees and buffers and these are great

· Like to see more mixed-use

· Encourage multi-family use and more sidewalks

· South of Palm Lane and McDowell – No sidewalk – historic house has a fence almost to curb

· Don’t see many pedestrians, not adequate for school foot traffic

· Lots of student traffic along Virginia but the crossing is not safe

· Most intersections lack ramps

· Not comfortable to bike

· Public art along 3rd would be nice

· Nice to be a parade route

· Sea of asphalt north of Thomas

· Might not be one ADA ramp on the west side of the street

· Street lights are not uniform and not as many as needed for pedestrians; old style

· Need wider sidewalk to encourage seniors safety

· East side has moot businesses

Greatest Asset

· Historic neighborhoods and their residents

· Mature trees, especially around the historic corridors and older areas

· Schools

· Vehicular circulation and direct access Downtown

· Historic neighborhoods

· Cultural/urban identity

· It doesn’t go anywhere – lends itself to slower traffic

· Wider lanes – limited visual clutter is good for cars

· Less congested, less stress with vehicles than other streets

· No visual distractions

· Turn lanes are more controlled

· Residential character

· Buildings at Earll and 3rd are assets

· China Chili is an asset

· Area north of McDowell is great

· Public art opportunities

· Parks

· Possible tie to Roosevelt District and Urban Form Project

· Street has a distinct beginning and end

Barriers

· Money

· Property owners giving up some property; maybe some won’t cooperate

· Maintenance is needed and no money is designated

· Need to move too many cars in the downtown area

· More land doesn’t make it nicer

· R.O.W.

· Traffic speed

· Lack of shade

· Flat suburban street

· Utilities – overhead wires/poles conflict with footpaths and street character

· Sidewalk connectivity has gaps

· Historic properties

· Palm and 3rd is accident prone

Vision

· Tree-lined street

· Urban residential feeling

· Park Central Mall to be really interesting

· Building are not too tall/high

· 3rd and Elliott – become focal area

· Traffic circles with art

· Pedestrian shelters

· Small shops

· Will be like 3rd Avenue with roundabouts and frontage

· Lawns

· Connectivity to other districts

· Informal wayfinding

· Curb cuts, rainwater harvesting, night sky, curb cuts

· Quest building coming down with a proposed potential senior living development – process is stopped

· Qwest building redevelopment 3 – 5 story building

· Small commercial, pull back to Park Central

· Commercial along Earll – multi-family residential

· North of Indian School, nice small infill

· 3rd Street to Earll becomes the focal village

· Foster what is there

· Promote open space on edges

· More trees

· Intermediate intersection – traffic circles

· Pedestrian facilities with benches and tables

· Transition height and spacing between business and residential

· More shade and less traffic

· It is the street that you walk up

· Nicely landscaped

· High rise and condo in the urban area

· Street meets MAG Standards

· Buildings against sidewalk, especially on west side

· Access mitigation

· Mixed-use

· Public art

· Strong connection between DT and Park

· More diversity

· Like Central between Bethany Home and Northern

· Street becomes a destination. All 3rd Street utilities are underground

· There's a traffic light at Indian School, Thomas, McDowell, and maybe Osborn. All other controlled intersections are managed with traffic circles.

· In addition, a traffic circle at Coronado manages traffic entering for the art museum and theater

· The traffic circle at Coronado and the first one south of Indian School would be prominently branded to point out that drivers are entering a special zone shared with pedestrians and cyclists.

· Car traffic is one lane in each direction, with a shared turn lane in the center

· Bike paths have been added

· Easements have been widened to accommodate wider sidewalks and planting beds

· Seating would be available. A mix of benches and tables/chairs (anchored for security and sheltered by canopies and/or vegetation) would be nice.

· Sidewalks are surfaced for pedestrian comfort and safety.

· Street lights are softer and provide a suffused light, avoiding the glare-and-shadow effect that actually limits night vision.

· Cross streets closest to light rail stops on Central would have visual and/or tactile markers guiding pedestrians to 3rd Street

· And, of course, there would be a pub.

Other

· Water harvesting

· Permeable pavement

· Night sky lighting

· Needs a pub

· It becomes an attraction or it needs an attraction

Source: Otak