Main Street Spartanburg

[hub-city]

Just for discussion... I was looking down Main Street lamenting the fact that the sidewalks from Church to Converse are so narrow with no room for tables etc... and was wondering what would be better;  a one way straight street with wide sidewalks and benches or the current curvy two way street we have now? Dunbar street is one way from East to West so Main could be one way from West to East...

 

thoughts?

[barkmenton]

I agree; that section of road could use some clever thought to make it more attractive to businesses and customers alike. It is a shame the buildings are so deep, yet the street and parking areas are so narrow. Designed for a different time. It may be difficult to decide where and how to divert traffic heading west over to St. John.

[drexel]

Just for discussion... I was looking down Main Street lamenting the fact that the sidewalks from Church to Converse are so narrow with no room for tables etc... and was wondering what would be better;  a one way straight street with wide sidewalks and benches or the current curvy two way street we have now? Dunbar street is one way from East to West so Main could be one way from West to East...

 

thoughts?

 

This is most of a letter to the editor that I wrote 8 months ago:  

 

The beautiful renovation of Morgan Square that was completed almost seven years ago has been a real asset to downtown Spartanburg. Now, it is time for the city to improve the streetscape of the 100 block of East Main Street between Church Street and Denny’s Plaza. The sidewalks in that block are narrow in places and the surface is uneven. The trees are unattractive, not uniform, and do not seem to grow. The ‘S’ configuration of the street is designed to slow down traffic, but in reality it is not pedestrian or bicycle friendly.

 

The block needs trees that flourish in an urban setting, wider sidewalks, comfortable benches, and a straight roadway. This would make the area more inviting and help increase foot traffic between the shops across from Denny’s Plaza and the businesses on Morgan Square. The city should make this project a priority to take advantage of the students that will be attending the new Spartanburg Community College’s downtown satellite campus.

 

PS. I think a two way street is better for businesses, even if parallel parking replaces angled.

[Spartan]

The problem is that the city assumes people are too stupid to use parallel parking. I think if they make the road straight and include enough room for parallel parking you'd have ample room for sidewalk cafés. Eventually Spartanburg will have to accept the fact that its Main St is not as wide as Greenville's and we can't support angled parking.

 

I've also heard that the trees on Main St are diseased so they are probably going to be replaced - my guess would be in Fall/Winter 2013 since that is the typical planting season for trees.

 

I'd like to see a more concerted effort to get a plan for Main St to revive the businesses and improve the streetscape.

[roads-scholar]

East Main from Church all the way out to Pine Street is a mess!  The serpentine layout between Church and Converse is goofy and the width of the street from Converse eastward is much to spacious for the amount of traffic.  

 

The city hit a home run with the Morgan Square redesign and now it's time to refocus on East Main.  A few years ago the city was ready to forge ahead one the East Main Road diet but SCDOT raised a ruckus and nothing happened.  I'm hopeful this proposal can be resurrected, 

[Spartan]

I split this discussion from the 'Off Topic' thread because I thought it should get more attention

[hub-city]

The whole flow of Main street is a mess.  I hate that you have to yield from Main Street to Main Street in front of First Baptist.  i would rather see the Broad Street extension closed and have Main Street a straight shot than what we have now.

[westsider28]

This is an old thread, but it seemed appropriate.  I found that the City has put the East Main (Church to Converse) streetscaping up for bid.  Bids are due by the end of the month, so it seems like this project could start relatively soon.  I was under the impression that Magnolia would be the next streetscaping project, but this one will certainly have a bigger impact.

[Spartan]

Nice. Sounds like they will start working on it this summer. Does anyone have the ability to download the plans contained in the big package on that link?

[westsider28]

I can't download the files, but the Assistant City Manager was kind enough to send me a conceptual rendering a while back.  This is from late 2013 when all the streetscaping projects had just been announced / funded, so some details may have changed.  But I think the main stuff is the same: straighten the road, parallel parking, trees in the car zone to free up sidewalk space (new trees, likely oaks, to replace the gnarly maples), and new streetlights (likely LED, to replace the sickly yellow ones).

[hub-city]

Thanks for the file westsider.  In looking at the first frame, it looks like they straightened out Main in front of FBS.  I hope so.  I can't stand a street merging back into itself.  if anything, broad street should merge into main.

[Spartan]

Thanks for sharing! I think that will be a big boon for Main St. Having a street with that design will make the whole thing feel and function much better - and I'm betting that once its complete, more businesses will take an interest in those blocks.

 

Are the LED lights going to match the ones they installed on Wall Street, or will they be the 'deluxe acorn' style like the rest of Morgan Square (which I think is what they have currently).

[westsider28]

Hub-city, I really hope they straighten the connection with Broad, too.  I have no idea if that's in the final plan.

 

Spartan, I don't know what the streetlights will look like.  I assume they'll go with acorn-style to match with most of the existing ones around downtown.  I think the lights on Wall Street are intended to be unique.

[westsider28]

The East Main streetscaping project is on Monday's City Council agenda (PDF).  The scope is only Church to Liberty, so the Main/Broad merge will have to be part of a future project further east (which is needed).  Anyway, construction should start by the end of May and be completed in 6-8 weeks.  The LED streetlights will be bid out separately to complete the project.  Here's the diagram that shows the changes:

[drexel]

The East Main streetscaping project is on Monday's City Council agenda (PDF).  The scope is only Church to Liberty, so the Main/Broad merge will have to be part of a future project further east (which is needed).  Anyway, construction should start by the end of May and be completed in 6-8 weeks.  The LED streetlights will be bid out separately to complete the project.  Here's the diagram that shows the changes:

E Main streetscape schematic.JPG

 

 

Does this mean the uneven brick sidewalks are not going to be completely redone like the sidewalks on West Main Street at Morgan Square? The existing bricks could be used. The drawing does not show improved/updated sidewalks.

[mainonmain]

Yes, the sidewalks will be redone.

[westsider28]

Here's an H-J article with more details on the project.  It will now start in early June to avoid interfering with an event at The Local Hiker.  There's some of the usual grumbling about construction from businesses, but the headline kind of overstates the issue.  Most understand that the final product will be worth the temporary inconvenience.

 

I was glad to see a mention at the end of the article about the Magnolia Street improvements potentially starting as early as August.

[Spartan]

Thanks for posting that rendering. Can someone please confirm that they are going to remove the front angle parking and move entirely to parallel?

 

Obviously the impact to businesses is a concern - but the good thing about doing this now is that there aren't a ton of businesses that are being impacted. Hopefully when it's done it will draw more people down Main Street.

[westsider28]

Spartan, all the parking between Church and Liberty will be parallel.  The angled parking on the north side of the block from Liberty to Converse will remain (and actually add a few spots) because that stretch is wider. (see the schematic from my post #14 above)

[Spartan]

Apparently tree clearing for work on the East Main Streetscape project started today.

[westsider28]

They are really moving quickly with the East Main streetscaping.  Two days in, and they've already taken out all the trees, cut many of the curbs, and started digging out the stamped concrete "cobblestone" at Liberty Street.  Hope this pace continues!

[Spartan]

I never minded the idea of cobblestone, but that fake stuff looked terrible.

[mainonmain]

http://www.cityofspartanburg.org/streetscaping

[Spartan]

Great find! 

[westsider28]

The City posted a photo on their Facebook page today of a new curb bump-out at the corner of Liberty that was just poured.  Moving along nicely.