Agreed Tony, and that should definitely be reflected in cities like Murray. I think there's much that could be done to both keep the necessary commercial positives of State, and at the same time make it more aesthetically pleasing. I'm not sure about converting any portion of State to the same situation as Downtown's Main. However, is there any question that much could be done with at least an attractive median and improved street level engagement. I think that this should be a given in Downtown Salt Lake, South Salt Lake and Murray.
Hmm... Just turned to this in this morning's Trib. Very interesting... and attractive! I love the idea of BRT, especially when you start getting into the CNG type buses.
State Street plan makes room for pedestrians, mass transit
a rendering of how a bus rapid transit line with improved walking conditions might look on State Street at various points throughout the valley. COurtesy The Planning Center
By Brandon Loomis
The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14923437?source=rv
The State Street of the future won't be a monoculture of car-centered businesses and soulless parking lots, planners hope.
It won't be mile after mile of a pedestrian utopia either, under a plan that Salt Lake Valley municipal leaders unveiled last month.
Instead, planners hope to stagger walking and transit-centered zones with places where the car remains king but a pedestrian might not feel totally isolated, the way one does on much of the street today. It is a voluntary plan that each city would need to incorporate into its local zoning scheme, but the various mayors have endorsed it.
Pedestrian-friendly "transitways" are envisioned for stretches where a bustling "Main Street" feel makes sense in the various cities along the strip from the State Capitol to Draper, but where walking isn't likely to be the dominant mode as in downtown Salt Lake City. They are prettier, but still built to move people.
"The idea with the transitway is to think about a hybrid that can work for a suburban franchise like a Walgreen's or even a fast-food place, but at the same time it starts to create a more beautiful environment, a more walkable environment, and an environment that works for people who ride transit," said Ted Knowlton, a consulting planner who helped complete the "Life of State" plan for the Wasatch Front Regional Council.
It has wider sidewalks and greener surroundings to make walking comfortable.
Sounds good to Daniel Fisher, who on Tuesday afternoon enjoyed a cigarette and some coffee outside Coffee Connection, across from Salt Lake Community College's State Street campus in southern Salt Lake City. He sat at one of the tables away from the six lanes of traffic, off to the Wood Avenue side of the building.
"It's not as appealing as it could be," Fisher said of both State Street and the sidewalk along it, which at that point has no greenery except for weeds emerging through cracks. He prefers the side away from State, "just because of the traffic, the noise, and you get a lot less hits from people asking for cigarettes."
A suburban dweller who works in Salt Lake City several blocks west of State, Fisher said he could see spending more than just his coffee breaks here if the street spruces up and traffic calms, like in the planners' drawings.
But there are also big businesses nearby on State -- Boater's World, for instance, in a cement-block building without a window on the street -- where vehicle traffic will remain key. Knowlton, of The Planning Center consultants, said the transit-friendly corridors don't have to crowd out existing car-centered businesses any more than TRAX did along 400 South.
Spots in between the transitways and the various walkable downtowns will continue to cater to car access -- especially where today there are car dealers -- though a bus rapid transit line will help whisk commuters and shoppers between Murray and Salt Lake City. Even the auto-first zones should have somewhat friendlier sidewalks, Knowlton said, and smaller shops along the street could help buffer pedestrians from big-box parking lots.
Besides having covered, possibly mid-street stations similar to today's TRAX stops, cities might zone for higher housing densities and buildings that are not barricaded by parking out front.
A prime candidate for the transitway treatment -- and a spot designated as such on the intercity plan's map -- is Salt Lake City's strip from 1300 South to Interstate 80. It is a place with big employers, such as Salt Lake County headquarters and O.C. Tanner. And it already is a neighborhood in transition, Knowlton said, where restaurants such as Rusted Sun and pubs such as Piper Down foreshadow a livelier future.
"The market is saying there's some fun activity here," Knowlton said. A mixed-use development slated for 2100 South adds hope. "There's clear momentum."
New public transportation options will help. Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake are planning an east-west streetcar line around 2200 South, and another is possible along 900 South in the capital. Paired with an eventual street car or bus rapid transit line on State itself, Knowlton said, these improvements would accelerate the foot traffic.
Other pedestrian-friendly transitways would straddle 2700 South, 3300 South, 3900-4500 South, 5300 South, Fashion Place Mall, Jordan Commons, South Towne Mall, 11400 South and 12300 South. Still more pedestrian-intense zones, zoned for high density and street-fronting buildings, are in downtown Salt Lake to 900 South, downtown Murray, downtown Midvale, 9000 South and Sandy City Center.
A planned State Street transit line is due for $145 million from the Wasatch Front Regional Council sometime between 2016 and 2025, according to the intergovernmental agency's regional transportation plan. Planners announcing the "Life on State" initiative last month said they hope future housing densities justify a railed streetcar, but for now the plan is a rapid bus line from downtown Salt Lake to 6200 South.
The bus line would have dedicated lanes in some zones -- perhaps the transitway stretches -- to help speed riders along those areas where congestion is likely to hold rush-hour traffic to under 20 mph . It might also have "queue jumpers," short dedicated lanes and exclusive signals at major interchanges allowing the buses to bypass lines at stop lights and then head through the interchange first, Wasatch Front transportation planner Greg Scott said. Stops would be every half-mile or mile, with park-and-ride lots every three miles.
The State Street line is part of a broader long-term plan for roads and transit that, as a whole, is projected to require voter approval of a new quarter-cent sales tax. Wasatch Front spokesman Sam Klemm said more study will be needed before an exact configuration is chosen.
A rendering of how a bus rapid transit line with improved walking conditions might look at State Street at various points throughout the valley. (Courtesy The Planning Center)
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