new prospect, on 11 February 2012 - 09:26 AM, said:
For all these reasons, the best thing that could happen to this area is for the City to somehow acquire some of these properties, tear down the motel between E. Main and St. John, realign that segment of Pine Street to take out the bend (run it through where the motel is now), and use the space freed up where Pine is now for improved parking and access for the strip mall, Fed Ex, Chamber of Commerce, or some new development. Wishful thinking, I know!
So quick to tear things down...
Improving traffic flow is a secondary priority at best. The traffic flow at that intersection is fantastic. I've been through it at all hours of the day, even at rush hour, and even then it's still pretty good. If you want to see congested intersections then come to Charlotte.
The pedestrian accessibility at that intersection is horrible. The #1 priority must be improving the infrastructure
people first, especially in the downtown area defined in the urban code. If we make the area more
safe, comfortable and friendly for pedestrians we make a truly
walkable environment, everything else that we want for that area will fall into place (pedestrian friendly shops and restaurants in those buildings). Again, and I cannot stress this enough,
vehicular traffic is not the priority in downtown.
Because Pine Street is also SC Highway 9, SCDOT owns that road. As a result, the State could buy the parcels on the northeast and southeast corners and the intersections could be widened. At first that sounds like a bad idea- making the distance that people have to walk to get across the intersection even longer. However, a slight widening would give you the ability to create a needed, dedicated left turn lane for southbound traffic and install a large, planted median which would allow for pedestrian refuge and actually improve that area for pedestrians. By breaking up a wide intersection in to smaller chunks, it can actually be quite comfortable for pedestrians to negotiate an intersection.
Take a look at the intersection of
Woodlawn Rd & South Blvd in Charlotte. This isn't perfect, but it's a good example of what I'm describing.
GvilleSC, on 13 February 2012 - 04:38 PM, said:
I'm sure this is just a misrepresentation, but aren't the parking spaces at the rear of the site going the wrong direction? The others seem to suggest one-way traffic and then the rear spaces suggest one-way traffic in the other direction. Odd.
Also, is Howard Street one way? If not, then those parking spaces are also angled the wrong direction... who is their site planner? No matter what stage in the design process you're in, those kind of details should always be correct.
Otherwise, the project looks really neat!
Howard St is two-way operation. The concept is called "Reverse-angle parking" -sometimes called "back-in angle parking." It's a relatively new concept, so not many cities have installed it yet. It's actually a much safer way to operate angled parking. No matter what parking arrangement you have, you have to back up at some point, be it before or after you park. For example, if you were to parallel park, you'd go in reverse into your space, then pull out into traffic when you leave. This is no different. When you back into a space like this, your doors open toward the sidewalk making it easier to get in and out of your car and load/unload kids; your trunk faces the sidewalk, making it easier to load goods from the market; and most importantly, when you're leaving, you pull forward into the street which makes it easier to see oncoming vehicle and bicycle traffic, making it safer for them too. Reverse-angle parking is a win-win situation for everyone.
I really like the concept of this market, and the location too. I really want that area and Cleveland Park to become the "next Hampton Heights."
0
