To: Members of the Public Works Commission
From: Thomas Reiff, Transportation Planner
Title
Approve the Resolution to Adopt the Downtown Alley Plan
Body
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Executive Summary
The purpose of this item is to provide information to the Public Works Commission on the Downtown Alley Plan (DAP). A request to recommend approval of the plan to Town Council is also part of the action item. During the development of the plan, the Town worked with the consultant, HDR Inc. and various stakeholders to develop a framework to activate the Downtown alleys into safe walking and biking facilities as well as create enhanced functional spaces for adjacent businesses. Downtown alleys are an untapped opportunity to improve mobility, safety, and provide opportunities for local businesses to thrive. This project was done through a $180,000 grant as part of the DRCOG Community Mobility Planning and Implementation (CMPI) program. The Town provided a 20% match, or roughly $40,000 for the plan.
The proposed DAP is one recommended step in the Town’s Downtown Mobility Master Plan (DMMP) for improving bike and pedestrian mobility. In the mobility plan, the alleys were identified as a means to improve safe bicycle and pedestrian mobility. While the Town has an excellent off-street trail system to bring people downtown, there are no designated bicycle routes and facilities that provide a low-stress bicycling environment in Downtown. In fact, many of the roadways are considered high stress for cyclists and some sidewalks are very narrow. Only 40% of Downtown is currently accessible by low stress bike facilities, and with the alley improvements and some roadway restriping, over 85% of the downtown will be accessible by low stress facilities.
The alley plan has created conceptual designs and identified elements to improve the bicycle/pedestrian environment that will activate the shared alley. Improving the pedestrian environment will also create unique opportunities for businesses to expand outdoor dining, install entrances off of the alleys, or simply improve the aesthetics of their property. Several businesses and property owners expressed these interests during the plan’s public outreach. Major project components included extensive public and business outreach, utility coordination, and a comprehensive design process to develop the conceptual design elements. These elements include a pavement design that is welcoming to bikes and pedestrians, street furnishings, opportunities for public art, increased lighting, and overall aesthetics. Funding for implementation of plan recommendations has not been identified. Staff will be seeking grant opportunities, funding partnerships, and prioritizing Town funds with other project priorities Town wide as part of our annual budget planning process.
Discussion
The Town retained the services of HDR, Inc. to help develop the Downtown Alley Plan (DAP). The development of the plan took 12 months and included an extensive public outreach and engagement, which included stakeholders like Downtown businesses and property owners, as well as utility companies such as CORE, Black Hills Energy, and trash/recycling companies. Overall, the public and stakeholders have been very supportive of the plan and see it as a tremendous opportunity for the Town and adjacent businesses. Current operations such as deliveries and trash/recycling will still occur in the alleys, and private parking will be maintained. Although it’s expected that these services will be better coordinated with the adjacent businesses in the final design phases of projects when they get underway. Outreach efforts are particularly important, especially coordinating the trash service and how to address the overhead electrical lines. The long term plan is to bury the overhead lines as funding becomes available. The outreach efforts included the following items;
• An interactive project web page
• Quarterly newsletters
• A project hotline to answer questions and provide information
• Five community ambassadors made up of Downtown business owners
• Three public pop up events (1st Friday concert, Oktoberfest, and a Saturday at the ice rink
• Stakeholder meetings (Town departments, utility companies, business/property owners, etc…)
• Presentations to the Public Works and Planning Commissions
• A social media campaign
In addition to the community and stakeholder involvement, the plan also evaluated and generated the following:
• Assess existing conditions and create a baseline report.
• Analyze Downtown alleys including their strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities
• Generate various options to improve street crossing safety
• Identified opportunities for public art, which could include murals, sculptures, functional art, interactive art, etc.
• Create concept plans for several Downtown alleys that includes framework designs, renderings, and 3D visualizations
• Planning level cost estimates for each conceptual alley design
While the DAP identified four alleys for future improvements and created conceptual plans for three alleys, all Downtown alleys are candidates for improvements. For example, alleys south of the Riverwalk development project can also be improved for walking and biking. The DAP is a guiding document that can be used to improve all of the Downtown alleys. Alleys can be improved as abutting properties redevelop or as funding becomes available. Final construction drawings are still required before improvements can be made. Specific alley details will be identified in these plans, including close coordination with services such as trash and deliveries with the adjacent business/property owners.
Budget Impact
The DAP was budgeted in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 and FY 2022. As mentioned earlier nearly 80% of the plan was funded through the CMPI grant program administered through DRCOG. The grant amount was $180,000 which required a local match from the Town for roughly $40,000. Recommendations and improvements identified in the plan are not funded at this time. Implementation will require a set of construction drawings and have to be considered against other priorities by Town Council during the annual budget and CIP discussions. Grant opportunities will be explored as opportunities present themselves.
Staff Recommendations
Staff recommends that the Public Works Commission move to recommend approval of the resolution to adopt the Downtown Alley Plan by Town Council at the June 21st meeting.
Proposed Motions
“I move that Public Works Commission recommend Town Council approve the resolution for the Downtown Alley Plan as introduced by title.”
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution
Attachment A - Downtown Alley Plan