You know what they say about what looks good on paper, right?
Even though work on the Block Avenue enhancement project is almost one-third complete, the city’s engineering department has been asked to come up with some last-minute redesigns to the plan.
The design of the nearly completed stretch of road between Dickson and Spring has sent up early red flags for members of Fayetteville’s Street Committee.
“When I looked at the plans, I saw one thing,” said committee member Bobby Ferrell. “But when I look down that street – and I hope it’s not just my perception – it doesn’t look the same.” Ferrell is also a city council member from Ward 3.
I don’t think you’re ever going to see an emergency vehicle going fast on Block.
The narrow width of the driving lane makes for a fairly tight squeeze when cars are parked on both sides of the street. City engineer Chris Brown said it is possible for a firetruck to make it through, but not very quickly. “If folks don’t park all the way against the curb on both sides, it can be very tight,” Brown said.
The fire department also had some concerns about navigating the street, said Brown. As a result, some of the planned green space has been removed in favor of concrete to accommodate for wide turns.
“I think there’s going to have to be some adjustments made,” said Ferrell. “I don’t think you’re ever going to see an emergency vehicle going fast on Block.”
The other two Street Committee members present at Tuesday’s meeting echoed Ferrell’s concerns and even had a few of their own.
“It’s very sad to me,” said Matthew Petty. “We’ve taken what has the potential to be a very functional street for pedestrians and for vehicular traffic, and we’ve turned it into a parking lot that is hard to maneuver.”
“That’s exactly what I thought,” added Brenda Thiel. Both Thiel and Petty serve on the Street Committee and are Fayetteville City Council members.
Petty’s biggest complaint was that back-in parking creates a situation where the rear end of a vehicle extends over the top of the sidewalk, essentially eliminating pedestrian walk space. Combined with the elimination of green space, Petty says the plan isn’t turning out the way the committee wanted.
“I’m concerned that this was a poorly planned design and that we hadn’t considered all these things when we rushed into it,” Petty said. “If we don’t address these concerns, we’ve crippled Block from becoming what we wanted it to be in the first place.”
It’s not just committee members that are worried about the plan, said Ferrell. “I have not had a single citizen comment to me that they like this other than a person that works for the city,” he said. “And I’ll have to take them at their word that they actually like it.”
Some possible fixes discussed were removing the parallel parking from the street to allow for a wider single driving lane, switching to a two-lane road with parallel parking only, or switching from back-in parking to front pull-in parking.
The committee will hold a special meeting Monday afternoon to discuss possible adjustments.
In the meantime, work will continue on the sidewalks along the street as they likely won’t be affected by any street changes.
“I’m concerned that this was a poorly planned design and that we hadn’t considered all these things when we rushed into it,” Petty said. “If we don’t address these concerns, we’ve crippled Block from becoming what we wanted it to be in the first place.”
my sentiments exactly.
I think safe, efficient vehicle and pedestrian flow can co-exist with aesthetic upgrades.
It would be great to get back to basics, and restore/add green space.
I’m glad people are recognizing that an overwrought curb-and-paver suburban hellscape does not fit Fayetteville’s character.
City Council members admitting they rushed into a project and now they don’t like it. I wonder how much it will cost to make whatever changes they rush into next. You know our city has about an $800,000 deficit this year, right?
And what was so wrong with Block Avenue to begin with? I never had trouble driving, parking or walking on it before.
What great forethought shown by our city gov’t…
I would ditch the parallel parking in favor of a single wider lane for vehicles since it would require the least amount of additional work and be the least costly method of fixing this screw up.
@Daniel based on the numbers thrown out by the city, that deficiet will be in the $1.4 – 1.5 million range shortly once the paid parking equipment is fully installed. Such great stewards of our tax money this administration is proving to be.
Yeah… what a waste of money when we need it the most. I bet pay parking will share as similar fate once they realize how bad it is for businesses and residents.
I’m glad to see some common sense being used here.
A good point in the article that I have thought of and noticed is that pick-up trucks (of which there are a lot in Fayetteville), when backing in, hang way over the sidewalk. They take away more of the sidewalk area than if they were pulling head-in.
I hope the city will revise this plan and make changes to make it simpler and better. Just this week, I drove down to Dickson and I saw 4 out of 5 cars pulled in the wrong way into these spaces.
“overwrought curb-and-paver suburban hellscape”
This phrase was a delight to read. Thank you sir.
I was just down there: Burger is right, the cars and trucks DO hang well over the sidewalks, with little choice, because the street is WAY TOO NARROW.
Do you know how man times I had to pull up and back up to get my 3/4 ton long bed chevy parked in my spot. then I had to do the same so I wasn’t driving the wrong way down the street. Did some kind austrailian design this street??
That’s okay, it just adds to the “regional draw.”
Come see how Fayetteville, a city in an agrarian area, failed to plan for pickup trucks or to get a firetruck down the street without engaging in moves similar to the game “Operation!”
I can feel the influx of tourists coming now.
“Some possible fixes discussed were removing the parallel parking from the street to allow for a wider single driving lane…”
So a street that had two lanes with parking on both sides becomes a street with one lane and parking on one side. Really?
According to a previous Flyer post, a consulting firm came and told Fayetteville that 26 cities like Seattle and DC (and ahem, some place in Delaware…) have used back-in parking successfully for many years. That always made me think of the monorail shill from that episode of the Simpsons:
—————
Lyle Lanley : The name’s Lanley. Lyle Lanley. And I come before you good people tonight with an idea. Probably the greatest…aww, it’s not for you. It’s more of a *Shelbyville* idea.
Mayor Quimby: Now wait just a minute! We’re twice as smart as the people of Shelbyville! Just tell us your idea and we’ll vote for it!
Lyle Lanley: All right, I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll show you my idea! I give you the Springfield Monorail! I’ve sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, and by gum, it put them on the map! [shows map with town names crudely added by hand]
—————
Come to think of it, you know what would really “extend the regional draw?” A Fayetteville monorail. That would be awesome.
I won’t park on Block because I don’t trust other drivers to successfully back in to those parking spaces without hitting adjacent vehicles.
Ferrell thinks they done went and switched the plans up
‘Fraid not, Bobby. The plans and what is there now are one and the same.
@burger boy
Where can I get one of those burgers the dude in you pic is nawing on?? looks delicious!
I drove down Block today. With the exception of one vehicle that rolled part of its back tire up on the curb (backing up too far), every single vehicle was parked totally fine in those spaces. And nearly every space was taken. Just sayin’.
This article made me laugh my ass off. I feel like I’m fiddling while Rome burns, but wow.
Anybody else get the feeling the city does things like this and the proposed rotary because some folks in the Streets and Planning Departments are padding their résumés?
Looky at all the neat things I did!
I actually like the intent behind the improvements. Petty had a better vision of Block Avenue, IMO.
I like the improvements to College and it has definitely created a safe pedestrian environment where one didn’t exist before. And thats good.
But this project tried to:
1) improve sidewalks
2) calm traffic
3) increase parking
4) improve aesthetics
All in the same project. It would have been cheaper to just widen the sidewalk on one side, install a few planters, and the result would have been great. I think they over thought this one. A lesson will be learned here, no doubt.
Real life, Real Time Problems on Block
I just turned down Block street to go back to my downtown office a little after noontime. I was driving very slowly to assess for myself if/how/when this street design was going to work. I got about halfway down the first part and a little girl flung open the car door on a car parked on the left. The open car door was in my lane. I had NO PLACE to swerve and miss her because of the width of the street and cars parked on both sides. Scared the bejeezus out of me. If I had been going even normal speed I would have hit this child. Block new redesign does not work in real life in real time. Please reconsider the street design.
I’m a regular visitor downtown- I go walking place to place with my friends shopping and hanging out. I do have to say that the sidewalks down there used to REALLY suck. Many times you had to walk in the street because of huge puddles. Also, they were pretty narrow. The new sidewalks are wonderful- but the street is REALLY narrow. It is ridiculous that it was not taken into consideration.
so, i got down there during the daytime, at last. the street looks great, but i have to echo the sentiment that it is too narrow. large trucks that were backed in all the way, and cars that were parallel parked at least a foot away from the curb only made matters worse.
additionally, i just happened to head down block as a semi-truck was attempting to navigate the street. he had to slow to a crawl to ease past some of the parking gaffes i mentioned above, and in fact had only inches to spare as he proceeded through the spring street intersection. at that point, he stopped and backed up towards a building on the southeast corner of the spring and block intersection. had that section of block been completed, the entire street would have been blocked to traffic. thankfully i could creep by through the gap in construction work.
i really liked the initial plan. i would like to see the spirit maintained, while widening the street just a bit. there is no way that sections of that street are quite 10 feet wide (i really think some sections might be narrower). i hope that a compromise can be worked out. matt petty? i won’t be able to attend any of the meetings, but i hope that you might convey my concerns.