Final Progress Advisory Panel Report - Knight Program in ...
Final Progress Advisory Panel Report - Knight Program in ...
Final Progress Advisory Panel Report - Knight Program in ...
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places, the panel recommends that Duluth leaders once aga<strong>in</strong> carefully study the corridor and consider an <strong>in</strong>novative<br />
new approach <strong>in</strong> Lakeside Boulevard. Once aga<strong>in</strong> there is a difficult decision for Duluth’s leaders to<br />
make, and the panel is hopeful Duluth will once aga<strong>in</strong> take the long view.<br />
Development Policies and Implementation Capacity<br />
Both the Unified Development Code and new Comprehensive Plan were major steps forward for Duluth, but<br />
additional transportation policy changes and capacity build<strong>in</strong>g are necessary for achiev<strong>in</strong>g the Duluth Creative<br />
Corridor’s vision of creat<strong>in</strong>g a walkable urban district.<br />
Policy Changes: The panel’s policy recommendations centered on the city’s Complete Streets <strong>Program</strong> and formbased<br />
districts <strong>in</strong> the UDC. Transit recommendations and redesign changes to 6th Avenue were also offered.<br />
Complete Streets: A more extensive local plann<strong>in</strong>g and community engagement process is needed immediately<br />
to move forward the Complete Streets resolution adopted by the City Council <strong>in</strong> a context-based manner.<br />
Complete Streets should be based on the context of the surround<strong>in</strong>g area, as def<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> the Compact Urban<br />
Area designations from the Unified Development Code form-based districts. That approach, the panel emphasized,<br />
will:<br />
• Serve as an educational process for those who do not yet understand the benefits of walkable, bikeable<br />
streets.<br />
• Help overcome the pushback that the city eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g department has experienced from neighborhoods.<br />
• Assist <strong>in</strong> resolv<strong>in</strong>g conflicts between transit and bike constituencies.<br />
• Help create consensus on specific street types and standards that will form the basis of the Complete<br />
Streets policy and implementation plan that the city called for <strong>in</strong> 2010, but which has never been brought to<br />
fruition.<br />
• Empower city traffic eng<strong>in</strong>eers to implement the Complete Streets policy <strong>in</strong> a consistent, context-based,<br />
and predictable manner. That should be undertaken and completed <strong>in</strong> 2012-2013 and become the foundation<br />
for br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g context-based, Complete Street design standards <strong>in</strong>to the Unified Development Code<br />
form-based districts dur<strong>in</strong>g the 2016 update to the Comprehensive Plan that will encompass both land use<br />
and transportation.<br />
Over the shorter term (prior to the expected 2016 completion of the comprehensive plan update), Complete<br />
Streets strategies should <strong>in</strong>clude visible street changes, particularly to enhance walkability and cycl<strong>in</strong>g, and<br />
streetscape improvements <strong>in</strong> the Duluth Creative Corridor. Specific projects could consist of work<strong>in</strong>g with<br />
the MPO to create a bicycle network plan (the signed bike routes that form the basis of the current plan are<br />
<strong>in</strong>adequate), implement<strong>in</strong>g several demonstration pilot projects, and convert<strong>in</strong>g the now one-way 2nd and 3rd<br />
Streets to two-ways <strong>in</strong> order to calm traffic, <strong>in</strong>crease neighborhood livability and safety, and enhance economic<br />
development and hous<strong>in</strong>g opportunities.<br />
Form-Based Districts: Conduct a detailed review of the new Unified Development Code. That should <strong>in</strong>clude<br />
clarify<strong>in</strong>g the matrix and calibrat<strong>in</strong>g and cod<strong>in</strong>g each district through urban design (assign the desired built<br />
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