Final Progress Advisory Panel Report - Knight Program in ...

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• Zebra-striped crosswalks, as mentioned in the study, work well in walkable urban districts to show where substantial numbers of pedestrians cross without any other traffic control device. They are also effective when added visibility of the crosswalk is desired. Bicycle comments: • Bike lanes are not usually synonymous with traffic calming, since they provide the appearance of wider traffic lanes. • Sharrows are specified for lanes where vehicles and bicycles share the lane and are not used where bike lanes are included. The Raleigh, North Carolina, Re-Imagine Raleigh project included the on-site development of an interactive model that captured the city’s urban form, including key geographical features, street patterns, and cultural landmarks. Decorated one-inch scale buildings are used to capture the essence of the actual ones. • The “uphill” bike lane is an excellent design concept. • Bus pull-out bays might only be necessary in the “uphill” direction.Recommended design comments: • The median should be broken at each street crossing 6th Avenue East to prevent an inordinate number of left turns and U-turns. • Sidewalks should be a minimum of six feet wide. • All dimensions should be measured to the curb face since speeds are low. • To reduce costs and encourage infiltration, curbs should be eliminated adjacent to the median. Greater infiltration of road surface runoff to the median is a healthy solution to the current high level of untreated water going into Lake Superior during rain events. (At present, over 110,000 gallons of untreated rainwater run directly into Lake Superior for each one-inch rain fall event.) • Between 2nd Street and 5th Street, the two-way left turn lane should have a coarse paving material to inhibit speed. • The lane should be pervious if possible, yet drain to the edge when saturated. • Concrete pavers have structural integrity and can provide permeability. • An additional signalized intersection would help manage motor vehicle speeds. In summary, the Progress Advisory Panel supports the process and the design section (with the slight modifications noted) described above. The next step, using those recommendations, is for the city and the appropriate agencies to communicate with the Department of Transportation and advance a scope of services for 6th Avenue East design. (See Rick Hall’s presentation, To Walk, Or Not to Walk … , for more information on designing walkable streets in urban areas.) Capacity Building To make the Duluth Creative Corridor urban design approach work, a lot of education and technical assistance will be required, especially in the early years until the changes on the ground make the benefits clear. Specific recommendations are to: 56
• Build an informed grassroots constituency for walkability, Complete Streets, sustainable urbanism, and transportation. Coalitions could be created by bringing together groups such as the Healthy Duluth Area Coalition, Safe Walkable Hillside, At Home in Duluth, and cycling advocates. • Use the speaker series (described earlier) to bring in people who can talk about good examples that relate to the Duluth experience. • Engage twenty-somethings via marketing campaigns and in corridor-related activities. Particular emphasis should be given to hiring an urban designer for the city’s planning staff and/or creating a new design center (as was established in Memphis following the 2006 charrette with support from the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the local Urban Land Institute District Council, the City of Memphis, and the University of Memphis). Examples of important work tasks include: • Enlivening empty storefronts on Superior Street. • Engaging the public in design and offering educational sessions and materials about good urban design and its benefits to Duluth residents, businesses, and visitors. • Adding heft to the importance the community should be giving to the issue of community design. If a design center is created, it could ultimately be its own 501(c) (3) with membership shared among city planners, the GDC, perhaps the A. H. Zeppa Family Foundation, Duluth LISC, and other interested parties. It could be located in a shopfront, another symbol of the city’s commitment to investing in the corridor. Services could include (but not be limited to) the following: • A scale model of Duluth (as in the Raleigh example). • Photo displays of before-and-after-street-diets (computer-enhanced depictions of a tamer 2nd Street or 6th Avenue, for example). Such displays work well as a significant community education tool. • Visual preference exhibits that enable visitors to vote on what they like or don’t like about what they see. • Pedestrian-safety statistics and other facts showing how important speed limits and street designs that support lower speeds can be.A video talk-back booth to get people to record what they think of Duluth and its downtown. • A sticky-note wall to pull in reactions to whatever exhibits are shown. • Historical photos of old downtown (not Old Downtown) and what is there now. • Regular discussion forums and serving as the location of the guest speaker series described earlier. • Regular lectures (draw from the speakers’ list, Appendix E). Good design center examples to study and learn from include the following: • The Nashville (Tennessee) Civic Design Center – a partnership among the design profession, University of Tennessee’s College of Architecture + Design, the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies, the 57
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The Duluth Creative Corridor Progre
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Progress Advisory Panel and Sponsor
Page 5 and 6:
Executive Summary In October 2011,
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of places are attracting the countr
Page 9 and 10: spectacular shoreline, dramatic top
Page 11 and 12: lation has remained steady (instead
Page 13 and 14: ‣ Distinctive Sense of Place - Th
Page 15 and 16: • Housing and Mixed Use - Tap the
Page 17 and 18: The Progress Advisory Panel’s Rec
Page 19 and 20: Day Two, October 2: The panel began
Page 21 and 22: creating a tool that could be used
Page 23 and 24: • The greater acceptance and grow
Page 25 and 26: side neighborhoods is promising. In
Page 27 and 28: • Duluth City Council adoption of
Page 29 and 30: those populations are relatively sm
Page 31 and 32: Address investor and developer conc
Page 33 and 34: espond to some approaches, and vaca
Page 35 and 36: Panel Recommendations The panel’s
Page 37 and 38: • The temporary formation of a gr
Page 39 and 40: Conduct Regular Market Research Res
Page 41 and 42: include giving strong consideration
Page 43 and 44: Provide for a Variety of Housing Ty
Page 45 and 46: • Conduct regularly updated and
Page 47 and 48: • Expand co-marketing efforts wit
Page 49 and 50: Downtown Is Downtown, Old or New Ca
Page 51 and 52: In other words, if you want to mark
Page 53 and 54: • For all places (Superior and Mi
Page 55 and 56: an living culture are among the man
Page 57 and 58: places, the panel recommends that D
Page 59: ment, Neighborhood Housing Services
Page 63 and 64: Conclusions Duluth is the right cit
Page 65 and 66: ‣ Leadership - Get institutional
Page 67 and 68: • Investment in historic properti
Page 69 and 70: Appendix B: Progress Advisory Panel
Page 71 and 72: Jean Scott Strategies for Livable C
Page 73 and 74: Appendix D: Duluth Participants in
Page 75 and 76: Darlene Marshall, GDC Terry Mattson
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Final Progress Advisory Panel Report - Knight Program in ...

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