Campbell Avenue will still have two lanes and, yes, they meant for it to look like that.
Now that the prospects have brightened for the Heer’s building, the most asked question I get is about this summer’s most prominent downtown streetscape project. The southern gateway from Bass Pro Shops will stimulate economic development long after the work is complete in August.
Business district, not expresswayNew “chicanes” were designed by Springfield Public Works with narrower lanes and an undulating path to compel drivers to slow down. The road changes make a statement that drivers have arrived in a historic business district and, at least for the next six blocks, are expected to share the area with pedestrians. It is a similar look and feel used by university and health care campuses.
The serpentine roadways, freshly poured sidewalks, pedestrian lighting, hanging baskets and banners will significantly enhance an area that was crumbling and drab.
It’s a much-deserved upgrade for visionary retailers at Springfield Pottery, Fresh Gallery, Modern Society, Nomad, Springfield Hot Glass and Art Inspired. It will complement the new arrivals in the storefronts on the former Sertoma site and the first floor of College Station Lofts. First Friday Artwalk will be remarkably different by this Christmas shopping season.
The main lesson learned on this project – the importance of managing expectations of the contractor and private businesses in advance to effectively balance safety with economic development – will be carried over to its southbound cousin, Jefferson Avenue, in 2014.
Free Campbell and JeffersonCampbell and Jefferson avenues have lagged behind in redevelopment of downtown corridors, such as Walnut Street, South Avenue and Park Central East, and many of the business owners attribute the one-way streets as a key factor.
The number of major one-way streets in Springfield has systematically been reduced to just two thoroughfares during the past 20 years. That’s the good news; the bad news is that Campbell and Jefferson are too far apart to effectively work as a matched pair. They prove confusing to dozens of drivers who inevitably travel in the wrong direction every month.
The city’s Traffic Engineering Department estimated in 2007 that the cost of converting the two would be $4 million with roughly half to fund the Chestnut Expressway intersections. Springfield should re-evaluate this initiative and plan to phase in the conversion to two-way during the next decade in future local capital project budgets, Missouri Department of Transportation cost-share programs and federal transportation enhancements.
Hunter Chase heroesTraffic is a lifeline for small businesses. Campbell was detoured for five weeks earlier this spring to allow the project to get off to a running start. The retailers were patient, but are now more than ready for vehicles, customers and discretionary spending to return to their front door.
Hunter Chase & Associates Inc. project manager Tim Massey and job foreman Jason Taylor, as well as city of Springfield project coordinator Paula Brookshire, should be commended for their extraordinary efforts to balance the safety of their workers with the livelihoods of the surrounding business owners. They worked together to find a way to keep at least one lane of traffic flowing during four months of the five-month project. It is another great example of public-private cooperation required in today’s challenging marketplace.
After the dust settles this summer, escape the expressway and take a few extra minutes to explore a creative approach for an up-and-coming corridor.
Rusty Worley, executive director of Urban Districts Alliance, can be reached at rusty@itsalldowntown.com.[[In-content Ad]]
