Downtown Concepts
Over the past six weeks members of the Capital District Project have been working to consolidate ideas brought forth in the Kansas Avenue Design Workshops into a possible concept plan. This plan was presented to the City Council at their meeting on Tuesday, December 14 at 6 p.m. as they consider including a line item for the project in both their 2011-2012 capital improvement budget and 2011-2015 capital improvement program.
Here’s a fly-through of the concepts that were presented to the City Council:
Below are a few concepts showing what our downtown could look like! (Click any image to enlarge.) Remember these are are only potential concepts, final plans will need additional information gathering, engineering and finalizing to ensure they meet both the desires of the community and the needs of the folks who live and work downtown.
This shot looks North up Kansas Avenue. It’s been narrowed to three lanes to provide enlarged sidewalks with spaces for outdoor dining, trees and grass, art, water features and child-friendly areas. There were many good ideas about uses for that space, so many in fact we had to find away to bring several together! To do so we’re introducing the idea of themed blocks. The space outside of the smaller shops will be setup for covered (and possibly heated) outdoor dining and retail. Just outside of Westar we’re imagining an electrical themed block with lots of fun and educational components for kids young and old!
Between 9th and 8th street, CoreFirst has indicated they’d be interested in helping us out with some fantastic art work, as well as, a permanent home for the Chinese Lantern, the sculpture Topeka received as a gift from China earlier this year.
The west side of Kansas Avenue could feature a winding water feature that mimics the Kansas River:
We have big ideas for the intersection of 8th and Kansas, as well as the blocks on either side!! We’ve created two sets of concepts for the intersection, one with traditional clock towers and one with a bit more modern approach. The towers provide a number of possibilities from sound and light during events, to navigational points of reference with way-finding information for visitors. The large video boards on each side could be used to promote upcoming community events, broadcast events going on downtown or show the big game. Below are the traditional ones:
Here are the more modern tower concept designs:
Perhaps one of the more exciting features of this concept is our plan to bring more than 50 additional street level parking spaces to downtown! This was a request that we heard a lot from the community workshops–more street level parking. These new spaces, are proposed to be free for the first two hours just like ones on Kansas Avenue. They can also function like parking lots when the Avenue is closed for events like parades. Our goal was to create spaces that can function multiple different ways!
Between 8th and 7th Street, we’d like to add covered (and possibly heated) outdoor dining and retail space. As well as some additional green space with a Great Plains theme. This would feature low berms and boulders that kids could climb and play on equipped with sprinklers for splashing.
Specifically, what is the Capital District Project asking the City Council for?
We’re asking for the City Council to budget $1 million in the 2011-2012 capital improvement budget, and for $2 million a year for the two years (2012 and 2013) in the capital improvement program (CIP) budget. In addition to this money, the Capital District Project team has been working on raising private dollars to go towards the project. Our goal is to secure at least a half million dollars in private sector contributions.
So what happens if they approve this project in the CIP budget?
Then we start working on creating the final version of the plan. We expect that to take most of 2011. It will include going back gathering more public input to further flesh out some ideas. By 2012 our goal is to begin construction.
Do these concepts include any green features?
Yes, there are several aspects that promote sustainability and even more could be included as final plans are coming together. The over-hangs for the outdoor cafe space can be constructed to collect rain water to reuse for landscaping. Solar and wind energy can be collected with other elements incorporated in these concepts. Also, landscaping selected for the area will be native to this area and not require an extraordinary amount of resources to maintain.
Why do these concepts center around three lanes?
We’ve put a lot of discussion into the number of lanes on Kansas Avenue and spent time modeling the traffic that would flow through the concept’s road layout. Roads are typically assigned a Level of Service from “A” to “F”, with an “A” being best, and “F” being so bad that traffic is nearly at a stand-still. Average roads are generally built to be a class “C”. The last time a formal traffic study was performed on Kansas Avenue in the late 90′s, it ranked as a “B”. At the time it was actually modeled as three lanes with center street parking. This makes the numbers much more useful in our concepts as we’re essentially talking about the same size roadway even without the center street parking. The modeling we’ve done based off that information also projects this concept ranking as a “B”. Because of this, we are comfortable making the road three lanes allowing as much space as possible for other amenities, but still leaving plenty of capacity for emergency vehicles, parades and everyday deliveries to downtown merchants. Currently, our concepts depict three lanes, but we’ve looked into four-lane options. A full blown traffic study will need to be performed prior to finalizing a plan so we can be confident that it’s the best for our community.
Can I see the power-point of the presentation that was given to the City Council?
Yes, you can download the PDF here.
Please check back as we will continue to add questions and answers to this page. We also hope to include additional images and a fly-through of the concepts shown above.
We’re interested in your feedback and want to hear what you think about these concepts – remember these are only possibilities, nothing here in set in stone. If you’re in support of downtown revitalization and like where these concepts are headed, please consider attending the City Council meeting on Tuesday night, or emailing the City Council to express your approval. A simple email to this address can go a long way!
18 comments
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Alissa Sheley, Sarah Van Dalsem, Brandon Sheley, Raubin Pierce, Rio Cervantes-Reed and others. Rio Cervantes-Reed said: Downtown Concepts for Topeka: http://bit.ly/igX4ua Pretty cool! I'll need to spend more time w/ it, but I like what I see so far! [...]
This such a fantastic explanation of the concepts that resulted from the excellent workshops. It is so exciting to see the rough sketches from the workshops transformed into creative drawings! Thank you, Capital District Team, for your tenacious and wonderful work! We CAN do this!!
What about bike lanes for downtown Topeka?
Great question, Michelle! There are several cyclists on the Capital District Project team and it’s something we’ve discussed quite a bit. We want downtown to be as cyclist friendly as possible.
While bike lanes aren’t included in this concept, it doesn’t mean that they won’t be there in the final plans. From a safety standpoint, this configuration doesn’t offer an ideal place for bike lanes. If they’re outside the traffic, cyclists would be right behind cars as they’re backing out of the angled parking spaces. If they’re inside traffic in the center lane, cyclists would always be crossing over in traffic. Neither is an ideal scenario….
One of the things we’ve discussed is how bikes will most frequently be utilized along Kansas Avenue. Will people be riding there for recreation/fitness, to get to a destination or for commuting purposes? Depending on the answers we’ll get from public input, we’ll have a better idea of how to integrate them.
I’m sure others on the Capital District Project planning group can help supplement my answer, but this is what I remember and have in my notes from the last meeting.
Thanks,
Alissa
Great ideas ,the towers are a wonderfull addition and the parking would help the business owners at lunch, bringing people downtown to eat /shop without parking ticket issues, Great ideas
Mike Fox
Thanks for your support, Mike!
Thanks for your support, Anita! I hope you’ll be able to attend the City Council meeting.
Ithink this plan is going to have the same fate that the College HIll project has. In my openion more businesses and residential changes should ber focused on. If we do not get more people moving into the down town area Kansas ave will still close down completely at 5 pm. The development of this plan should be postponed and some ideas developed on the above issues. I like the looks of the changes but feel that the implemetation of the changes is completely ignored. This happens so many times in Topeka and we waste a lot of money
Frank -
Your concern is very valid. If these changes by themselves are all that are implemented, we may not be able sustain long-term change in downtown. Through the public workshops, lots of ideas/concerns were voiced, many of them surrounding policy implementation and enforcement (for example, bands/cookouts/local festivals and tax breaks for Kansas Avenue merchants). While those aren’t physically addressed with this visual concept, those ideas are also being worked on and will take public input and support before they are passed.
Thanks for giving your input, Frank. I’m glad that you’re interested in what we’re trying to do to revitalize downtown!
The first question is why are bikes not included in this concept? The argument that they can be added later seems a poor one at best. It is simply irresponsible to present a plan, no matter how amendable or preliminary, that increases the danger faced by cyclists on the street. The success of the Topeka Cycle Project on Kansas Ave is a clear indication not only of the increasing popularity of cycling in Topeka, but also of the constant need to include safe places for alternate forms of transit in our city.
I am also confused by how the type of cycling done is of importance. The current plan is unsafe for all those riding on the street, no matter their purpose. Before we can consider the safety of certain types of cyclist, we must first make room for cyclists in general. But most importantly, I am curious how the type of riding impacts your needs. I both ride for fun and to commute on a regular basis, and can identify very little in difference in my needs between the two styles, the clear common thread is the need for safety. No matter how I am riding, I need a road that does not force me to choose between blocking the only lane of traffic or placing myself in the blind spot of backing vehicles.
I am a huge supporter of redeveloping downtown Topeka. This sort of project is long overdue. But I am concerned that one of the most powerful sources of change in our community is electing to stop short. This project has the opportunity to set the standard by which Topeka measures its progress and future development. By not placing cyclist on the initial concept before the city council sets a dangerous precedent. Cyclists are not a problem to be resolved later, but people to be protected from the beginning.
The plan looks great, but on paper. Unless we increase safety in the downtown area, and find a way to bring in more people to live there, I concur with other folks that downtown will still be dead after 5.00 p.m. I wish I had a magical idea (i.e., moving Washburn campus downtown by magic), but I am not sure how all these ideas are going to work. Good luck!
Brandon –
Thanks for your support of redeveloping downtown Topeka and your input regarding the importance of cycling. You are correct, Topeka’s made huge strides to becoming a more cycle-friendly community in the past few years and that this concept clearly hasn’t gone far enough to accommodate that.
I hope that you’ll continue to support downtown revitalization and work with us to modify this concept to make it more cyclist-friendly. Obviously those changes won’t come before the presentation at tonight’s City Council meeting, but these concepts are only showing possibilities and nothing’s set in stone. If we’re able to secure funding, we’ll go back to gathering more community input and research and further flesh out what our revitalization efforts will look like.
I think input from you would go a long way to helping us come up with a concept that will work for all modes of transportation. Thanks again for your comment!
Miguel -
Thanks for your comment! Safety will always be an issue we’ll have to contend with, no matter what part of the city we’re talking about. In reality, these concepts will only reach their full potential in rejuvenating the area and keeping the “After 5” crowd plugged in if we compliment them with policy change that makes downtown the center of activity. From better signage and tax incentives for downtown merchants, to open containers allowed in selected areas and entertainment programming/marketing – all of these areas of importance were identified in the initial Kansas Avenue Design Workshops. We’ve got groups working on going after policy changes that can help makes these things happen, but we’ll need continued input and support from the community to let the City Council know those steps are important to our community as well.
Thanks again for your support, Miguel!
Thanks for your comments Don! We’ve put a lot of discussion into the type and class of business we’d hope to attract to revitalized and reinvigorated downtown. The consensus has generally been to work toward building up local mom and pop and niche businesses. Our goal is not to try and compete with Wanamaker as that’s just not realistic with the budget constraints we are attempting to work within.
We do plan to expand the current Kansas Ave concept into a larger plan for our community, however the timeline to implement a plan of that size given the current budgets make it largely unrealistic. So we elected to start small and build on our success once we confirm this type of concept fits our community.
Housing is an important part of making downtown a success; we’re assembling a special team just for this one area!
I agree with you and the condition of our streets and there is a program in place to address them. (The success or failure of that program is another matter altogether, but it is there.) The funding allocated for this project is not generally usable for street repair and so wouldn’t have been applied to that budget anyway. Nor would canceling it resolve the street issues any faster. Thank again for your interest and keep checking back as we’ll update the site as more information becomes available!
I like the open Dialogue that we have going on here! Lets keep the input and support going so that we can make the final concept and implementation as successful, benificial, and beautiful for our community as possible!
Thanks Brail!! Totally agree, lets keep this going!
So what is so bad about Downtown being dead after 5pm? It has a lot going for it during the daytime, do we need to spend millions trying to make people go there after 5pm? Do we have to make it something other than what it is? It has its own niche during the day, and most businesses close at 5pm all over the city anyway, so what’s the big need to bring people there after 5 pm?
The biggest problem I see with Downtown is limited parking. Get the buses off Kansas Avenue and that gives more parking and less congestion. Bus riders can walk from Jackson and Quincy, it’s only one block. Don’t try to narrow the streets, that will only make things worse. the sidewalks are wide enough already.
Hi Lee, thanks for your comments! I’ll agree that downtown does have a lot going for it during the day, but most of that is offices and such. They’re isn’t so much retail activity. Countless studies have shown over and over again that one of the keys to cities grow and prosper is a strong downtown and central core.
Parking is a big deal, part of our downtown concepts includes adding lots of street level parking. Not too sure about the buses though, I’ve never noticed that to be a big problem. The sidewalks are plenty wide for the volume of pedestrian traffic, but we’d like to add outdoor dining and retail space, that will take more space then we have now….
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