The City of Grand Junction conducted a “windshield”
survey of vacant commercial building space for the North Avenue Corridor
in January 2011. Results show that the area has an 11.4 percent vacancy
rate. The same survey showed a vacancy rate of 6.4 percent for the
entire City.
Concentrated efforts in streetscape treatment, community identity,
way finding, signage and architecture can help existing businesses
and spur future business development of a corridor. Improving the
streetscape would set a foundation that is enticing for new development
and improve North Avenue as a destination.
For North Avenue west of 1st Street, the cross-section of the
existing street is a highway with wide medians and frontage roads.
Although pedestrian/bicycle access through this section of North Avenue
is recommended, the street cross-section is much different than what
should be recommended east of 1st Street. The width of right-of-way
west of 1st Street is much greater.
Ultimately, the right-of-way width of North Avenue east of 1st
Street needs to be 100 feet wide with 50 feet of half right-of-way
expected from each side. Much of the street today is 80 feet in width
except where new development occurred over the past 20 years and additional
right-of-way was dedicated. The same is expected of future development
as well. Having 100 feet of right-of-way will allow for ample streetscape
improvements, revitalizing North Avenue into a corridor that is once
again a destination for the community.
(Ord. 4486, 11-2-11)
Existing sidewalk conditions along North Avenue range from narrow
three-foot attached sidewalks to paved surfaces that are shared with
parking areas to detached six-foot-wide sidewalks with a landscaped
area between the curb and the sidewalk. North Avenue is a high pedestrian
use corridor within the study area particularly between 5th Street
and 12th Street with the influence of the student population during
the day.
(Ord. 4486, 11-2-11)
During the planning process existing conditions were studied,
six concepts were developed and studied and public comments sought.
Public input on potential street cross-sections was received at the
April 2011 open house and from an online survey conducted in May and
June 2011. These six concepts (Option 1 through Option 6) are included
in the appendix. Generally, the street sections focus on the following
elements:
(a) Construct wider sidewalks – detached and/or attached;
and/or
(b) Provide bike lanes on North Avenue by restriping existing pavement
or widening pavement section; and/or
(c) Provide on-street parking by reconstructing the street within a wider
right-of-way.
(Ord. 4486, 11-2-11)
The following table presents details of each of the six options.
At the April 2011 open house, those in attendance were asked to identify
their two favorite options. Options 2, 3 and 4 garnered the most support.
Support for these three options placed strong emphasis on creating
a corridor with wide detached sidewalks and landscaping; and gives
good support for a bike lane on North Avenue, but also suggests that
there are concerns with narrow vehicular travel lanes. The question
needs to be asked, “Are 11-foot-wide lanes too narrow?”
Clearly they are still wide enough to accommodate heavy truck traffic.
They also help curb speed and slow traffic down.
Existing Conditions
|
Option 1
(Restripe with bike lanes)
|
Option 2
(Widen sidewalk/Add landscaping strip)
|
Option 3
(Add bike lane and widen sidewalk/Add landscaping strip)
|
Option 4
(Remove curb and widen street 3 ft./Widen sidewalk/Add landscaping
strip/Add bike lane)
|
Option 5
(Remove curb and widen street 5 ft./Widen sidewalk/Add parking
lane)
|
Option 6
(Remove curb and widen street 8 ft./Widen sidewalk/Add bike
lane/Add parking lane)
|
Based on citizen input from the open house, the preferred street
cross-sections are Option 2 and Option 3 for the following reasons:
(a) Both options provide wider detached sidewalks.
(b) Both options provide landscaping.
(c) Both options are simpler to implement and can be completed in increments.
(d) The bike lane in Option 3 can be implemented in the future by restriping
the pavement to add the bike lane. What is constructed beyond the
curbs is the same for both options.
(Ord. 4486, 11-2-11)
The City of Grand Junction conducted an online survey for 30
days between the months of May and June 2011. A total of 351 surveys
were completed by the public. Using the same cross-sections introduced
at the April open house, the survey focused on seeking input from
the public regarding dedicated bike lanes, on-street parking, and
just how wide the travel lanes, bike lanes and pedestrian areas along
the corridor should be if they are desired.
Results from this survey indicate nearly three out of four responders
said that bike lanes should be incorporated into the future design
of North Avenue. However, creating parallel parking on North Avenue
did not receive much support with 92 percent saying that it was a
bad idea.
The survey asked each person to identify their top two options
for cross-sections for North Avenue. There were six options to choose
from and descriptions along with the results of the survey are shown
below.
|
Number One Choice
|
Number Two Choice
|
---|
Option 1. Restripe North Avenue with a five-foot wide bike lane.
|
31
|
16
|
Option 2. Add 10 feet of right-ofway width on each side with
eightfoot detached sidewalks and eight feet of buffer between pedestrians
and traffic.
|
64
|
51
|
Option 3. Add 10 feet of right-ofway on each side of the street,
an eight-foot detached sidewalk, an eight-foot buffer area, and a
fivefoot-wide bike lane.
|
104
|
143
|
Option 4. Add 10 feet of right-ofway on each side of the street,
an eight-foot detached sidewalk, a five-foot buffer area, and a six-foot
striped bike lane.
|
125
|
85
|
Option 5. Add 10 feet of right-ofway on each side of the street,
an eight-foot parking lane, and no bike lane.
|
17
|
27
|
Option 6. Add 10 feet of right-of-way on each side of the street,
an eight-foot parking lane, and a fivefoot bike lane.
|
10
|
29
|
|
351
|
351
|
If you combine the top two choices that people selected, Option
3 comes out as the overall top choice with a total of 247 picks and
Option 4 is second with 210 people picking it either number one or
number two.
The survey also asked participants to rate various elements
of any future redesign of North Avenue from “Very important”
to “Not at all important.” The results are shown in the
following table:
|
Very important
|
Somewhat important
|
Neutral
|
Somewhat unimportant
|
Not at all important
|
---|
Traffic flow and convenience
|
70.70%
|
19.70%
|
6.80%
|
1.70%
|
1.10%
|
Safety
|
85.20%
|
10.80%
|
2.30%
|
0.60%
|
1.10%
|
Aesthetics (appearance)
|
42.50%
|
38.20%
|
13.10%
|
3.70%
|
2.60%
|
Bike lanes
|
49.90%
|
22.20%
|
6.00%
|
6.60%
|
15.40%
|
On-street parallel parking
|
2.30%
|
6.00%
|
9.40%
|
16.20%
|
66.10%
|
Creating a pleasant place to walk
|
42.50%
|
33.60%
|
13.10%
|
5.40%
|
5.40%
|
Traffic flow and convenience and safety ranked very important
to the public. Aesthetics, bike lanes and creating a pleasant place
to walk are important to those taking this survey as well, with most
people ranking them as either very important or somewhat important.
Results for on-street parallel parking were not important to most
survey participants.
(Ord. 4486, 11-2-11)
The recommended street cross-section is Option 3. After taking
into account the survey results, public comments received at open
houses, focus group meetings, the work by the Technical Advisory Committee
for this corridor plan, and the financial costs for construction,
the street cross-section in Option 3 was selected. Option 3 incorporates
the most features the public stated as being important. These features
include creating an improved, more aesthetic and safer pedestrian
corridor and include bike lanes. These features are also found in
Option 4, but Option 3 is financially a better choice than Option
4. Option 4 would require reconstruction of the curb and gutter and
adding additional pavement to the street while Option 3 works within
the existing curb and gutter or street width. Both options will require
10 additional feet of right-of-way to improve the pedestrian and landscaping
areas.
(Ord. 4486, 11-2-11)