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New Wealthy Streetscape

uncus

By uncus
in Grand Rapids

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twoshort Town

twoshort

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Does anyone have more info or renderings of the improvements planned for the Wealthy streetscape. I heard rumors of more brick, historic lighting etc, but does anyone have more specifics? What is the timeline?

They're installing new street lights or traffic lights or something as we speak (at least they were 30 minutes ago). They are historic looking and look great.

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ModSquad Hamlet

ModSquad

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I believe ICCF has some plans for some of the streetscape work on Wealthy as a part of their Wealthy Jefferson initiative. I heard something about a roundabout in one of the intersections. Any one reading this from ICCF have any info?

[bTW-Off Topic-have not posted in a while...was in sunny and beautiful Myrtle Beach :thumbsup: Good to be back though]

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twoshort Town

twoshort

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I believe ICCF has some plans for some of the streetscape work on Wealthy as a part of their Wealthy Jefferson initiative. I heard something about a roundabout in one of the intersections. Any one reading this from ICCF have any info?

I heard there'll be a roundabout at Wealthy and Division and then another one in another intersection as well.

I also heard a whole bunch of other stuff that ICCF is doing and has their hands on.. but I'll keep that to myself :P:ph34r:

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ModSquad Hamlet

ModSquad

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If you have not seen ICCF's plans for the Wealthy Jefferson area, they are worth a look. The plans were done quite a while ago. The City has held them up for a while. I have heard though that the log jamb at the City has been broken down and the project should be moving forward at a good pace in the coming year or so.

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

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Having worked in the non-profit world in the past, the word's "charette" and "chatacqua" mean "we have lots of dreams but no cash". I wish all these projects the best but I cringe when I hear the words...

Joe

All these design charrettes are fine and dandy, but show me the money! Who are the investors? How many jobs? How much, how much!?!?!!

:lol:

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uncus Whistle-Stop

uncus

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One part of the project consists of a new, beautiful, pedestrian friendly streetscape between Eastern and Union on Wealthy Street. I have a copy of the design and will post more information later.

-Triple G

I would love to see this! Do you have any information on timeline for the project?

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markrumsey Unincorporated Area

markrumsey

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I would love to see this! Do you have any information on timeline for the project?

Not to usurp TripleG's response but the City has postponed the project until the 2007 construction season. In total the project will eventually reconstruct Wealty Street all the way to Division. It is a mojor water main re-routing project so the work is fairly extensive below and above ground. The overall look of the Eastern to Union section will mimic the look of the recently reconstructed section of Wealthy between Fuller and Diamond.

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civitas Burg

civitas

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Not to usurp TripleG's response but the City has postponed the project until the 2007 construction season. In total the project will eventually reconstruct Wealty Street all the way to Division. It is a mojor water main re-routing project so the work is fairly extensive below and above ground. The overall look of the Eastern to Union section will mimic the look of the recently reconstructed section of Wealthy between Fuller and Diamond.

Very disappointing that the city is insisting on 2 through lanes in each direction and a center turn lane from at least Division to Jefferson (5 lanes total - 28th Street). There's nothing pedestrian friendly about that street section and it will have a disasterous impact on the ICCF Wealthy/Jefferson initiative. That part of the street needs on-street parking and generous sidewalks too.

We design our streets to accommodate one rush hour in the morning and one rush hour in the afternoon and that design haunts the other 23 hours of the day. The traffic engineers had horrible models to argue against Division becoming a 3-lane cross section, but when Division was completely closed for months no one hardly noticed. The same happened when 131 was closed to rebuild the s-curve. The engineers prepared for civil unrest and rioting the day it closed. No one hardly noticed.

This town is blessed with a wonderful street grid that allows many options for any route. Traffic safety is important, but it must be reasonably balanced against other important aspects of urban quality of life.

There should not be one dollar of public money invested in reconstructing Wealthy Street until the entire design really embraces the concept of "pedestrian friendly." I wonder if the url www.urbanrevolution.org is still available. Us old guys could teach you young guys how to protest. :yahoo:

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torgo Town

torgo

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Traffic safety is important, but it must be reasonably balanced against other important aspects of urban quality of life.

AMEN! This is the key...transportation planning apparently revolves around rush hour or the christmas shopping season, completely disregarding the other 99% of the time where it needlessly degrades the urban environment.

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torgo Town

torgo

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So what you're saying is that the reality is crummy because planners are planning for the 1% hypothetical?

I guess my point is that while the intentions of provide multiple travel lanes or parking spaces are usually good, too often it ends up trumping every other issue at hand, and the entire area suffers as a result.

I dont think its really the planners fault. The 5-lane idea probably came from a traffic engineer, and he/she probably arrived at that conclusion based on fairly old documents and standards where the comfort of automobiles is the primary concern.

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Occam Unincorporated Area

Occam

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I heard there'll be a roundabout at Wealthy and Division and then another one in another intersection as well.

I also heard a whole bunch of other stuff that ICCF is doing and has their hands on.. but I'll keep that to myself :P:ph34r:

Can any traffic engineers or urban planners or anyone else 'in the know' explain to me why a Round About is a good thing? Seems like any time there is talk of 'new urbanism' or some TND charette someones throws out a 'Round About' like its some sort of magical stamp of New Urban Goodness.

I just don't get it... sure it's a very 'european' sort of thing to do, but what would it actually accomplish in Grand Rapids, other than to confuse the hell out of motorists and make everyone dizzy? Seems like there are better ways to slow down traffic if thats the issue.

So whats so great about a round about? Is there really any merit to using them in GR, or are they just another TND trend that were going to have to tear out in 20 years. It reminds me of the street equivalent of all the 50's and 60's metal modernist facades over Historic buildings... which are now being pulled off to reveal the original facade. Just a hollow trendy gesture that doesn't stand the test of time... or am I missing something?

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Can any traffic engineers or urban planners or anyone else 'in the know' explain to me why a Round About is a good thing? Seems like any time there is talk of 'new urbanism' or some TND charette someones throws out a 'Round About' like its some sort of magical stamp of New Urban Goodness.

I just don't get it... sure it's a very 'european' sort of thing to do, but what would it actually accomplish in Grand Rapids, other than to confuse the hell out of motorists and make everyone dizzy? Seems like there are better ways to slow down traffic if thats the issue.

So whats so great about a round about? Is there really any merit to using them in GR, or are they just another TND trend that were going to have to tear out in 20 years. It reminds me of the street equivalent of all the 50's and 60's metal modernist facades over Historic buildings... which are now being pulled off to reveal the original facade. Just a hollow trendy gesture that doesn't stand the test of time... or am I missing something?

Actually, I've driven them in Europe and I think they are WAY better than traffic signals. You get used to them pretty quickly. We had a whole discussion about them here a while back:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...&hl=roundabouts

And they have been around a lot longer than traffic signals to call them trendy.

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GRGridGirl Hamlet

GRGridGirl

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I guess my point is that while the intentions of provide multiple travel lanes or parking spaces are usually good, too often it ends up trumping every other issue at hand, and the entire area suffers as a result.

I dont think its really the planners fault. The 5-lane idea probably came from a traffic engineer, and he/she probably arrived at that conclusion based on fairly old documents and standards where the comfort of automobiles is the primary concern.

I think its called the Michigan Manual, a uniform traffic code.

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civitas Burg

civitas

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Can any traffic engineers or urban planners or anyone else 'in the know' explain to me why a Round About is a good thing? Seems like any time there is talk of 'new urbanism' or some TND charette someones throws out a 'Round About' like its some sort of magical stamp of New Urban Goodness.

I just don't get it... sure it's a very 'european' sort of thing to do, but what would it actually accomplish in Grand Rapids, other than to confuse the hell out of motorists and make everyone dizzy? Seems like there are better ways to slow down traffic if thats the issue.

So whats so great about a round about? Is there really any merit to using them in GR, or are they just another TND trend that were going to have to tear out in 20 years. It reminds me of the street equivalent of all the 50's and 60's metal modernist facades over Historic buildings... which are now being pulled off to reveal the original facade. Just a hollow trendy gesture that doesn't stand the test of time... or am I missing something?

They handle more capacity than traditional intersections with fewer vehicular and pedestrian conflicts.

all.gif

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torgo Town

torgo

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And they have been around a lot longer than traffic signals to call them trendy.

This is important to remember about new urbanism. Its not really "new" at all, its pretty much the way we used to build things before WWII. If it were some brand-new, never-been-tried idea it would be one thing, but a good part of the foundation of New Urbanism is tried-and-true. You can drive through any city for loads of examples. That's why some people would rather just call it "urbanism". ;)

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