Proposed designs for a downtown sidewalk improvement project call for the installation of 16-foot concrete bumpouts on the north and south sides of Center Street that would allow more walking room for pedestrians and patio seating for restaurants.
Source: City of Fayetteville
Business owners on East Center Street will have to wait a little longer for a decision on whether their storefront sidewalks will be widened to allow for streetside cafes and other amenities.
Over 20 signatures were included on a petition advocating for the changes, but members of the City Council’s Street Committee agreed Tuesday to seek more public input and to make sure building owners were aware of the proposal before moving forward.
The biggest issue the group had was with the possible removal of several parking spaces on both sides of Center Street.
“I really like the idea,” said Ward 3 Alderman Bobby Ferrell who serves as chairman for the committee. “But we’ve got to be very careful with how much we take.”
The proposed design includes concrete “bumpouts” which will increase the width of the nine-foot sidewalks by up to eight feet in certain spots, but would eliminate seven of 24 parking spaces.
The extra space would allow restaurants to add patio seating and would provide room for possible future installation of bike racks and benches.
Regardless of what plan is chosen, the sidewalks on East Center Street will soon be completely replaced and will include brick-lined edges, street lights and street trees.
Photo: Todd Gill
The stretch of road is one of three streets on the downtown block included in an improvement project which will add tree-lined sidewalks and street lights to both sides of Center Street, the west side of College Avenue and the north side of Mountain Street.
Terry Gulley, the city’s transportation services director, said work began on Mountain Street this week, but crews will wait for a final decision on Center Street before beginning any work there.
According to Jeremy Pate, the city’s development services director, the new Center Street plan could add as much as $44,000 to the cost of the project which is being partially funding using $60,000 provided by developers of the failed Renaissance Tower hotel and condominium project as a guarantee for required improvements to bring the area up to code with regard to trees, sidewalks and landscaping.
Mike Johnson, who lives near Center Street and is the University of Arkansas’ associate vice chancellor for facilities, said whatever plan the city goes with would be a welcome one.
“It’s the piece of the square that hasn’t been done and it’s the main entrance,” Johnson said. “It’ll be great to see it all improved.”
Committee members agreed to ask city officials to schedule a public meeting to discuss the proposal. We’ll post more information on that as soon as we have it.
Outdoor dining is a great experience. I have enjoyed it in many places, especially France. There is a hurdle to get over, beyond the parking thing, and that’s ABC and Health dept rules. I believe, but could be wrong, that ABC requires a barrier with a gate to access the outdoor dining area, and that health dept frowns on mixing dogs with diners. By placing fences/barriers between diners and strollers, how much space will actually be gained for passers-by? And then does the city lease the new space to the restaurants, like it did with the Hog City patio?
Please don’t forget handicap accessibility.
This is less than what I had hoped for. But its better than nothing.
Not much room for patios in that layout.
I agree, I was picturing a total transformation lol, but then again Im an artist with a crazy imagination and just recently returned from Europe…so my bar was a little higher, BUT like you said its better than nothing.
How about actually admitting that the city is killing Dickson street and focus on that instead? what a waste of money.
Oh, the humanity!
You’re new in these parts, aintcha?
If STIR and Shotz or whatever its called now….if those Dave bars are the ones dying, then we need to do more of whatever it is we are doing.
I wish the city could do something with the lot and building where the Renissance Tower was going to go. It’s one of the biggest eyesores in town.
You are absolutely right. A couple of years ago I suggested hiring some of our talented artists to cover the surface with Fayetteville scenes (think Walker Park ball courts). That idea did not fly with Fay administration.
I’ve always wanted to see restaurants, bars, some kind of infill,etc. with the store front facing College Ave. with a sidewalk.
The deadline for that parking lot to have been brought up to code was over 2 years ago. For some reason the city asked for an extension by the planning commission til Oct 2011 and it still didn’t get done. The city had to call the bond and make the improvement, which they are just now starting. I’ve heard the bond isn’t enough money to cover the expense. There could have been trees planted to screen the worst of it from the get go or it could have had the worst of it condemned. None of it worked out the way we wanted but it should have been brought into compliance long ago. It has been an eyesore for years too long. I asked for an update on the situation back in April. Thank goodness for the election or it may never have been dealt with.
Dan is there a time when the ownership of the lot comes back to the city? What options does the city have there?
No, as much as it should have gone back to the City, it just goes back to the bank in the case of a default. The parking lot should have had tree islands, lighting, sidewalks, and street trees. They are going in now that the election is weeks away. The city should have condemned the most unsightly part near the street as soon as it became apparent that the hotel deal was dead. If condemnation was not acceptable to the Council, a grove of large caliper pines between the street and nasty building would have helped a lot. They could be transplanted later when a project was planned. After 4 years of sitting there completely untouched, with money obligated to improvement, it is long past time to do something about the worst eye-sore in town. The only thing worse than what we have would have been leaving intact the derelict and dangerous Mountain Inn.
If I’m viewing the plan correctly, the sidewalk on the south side of the street is narrower than the current sidewalk. My assumption is based on drawing a line out from the car parked on the far left, which is the current sidewalk edge. I hope this isn’t the case. Throw in a bunch of tree wells and you’ve got a pretty street border, but not a great sidewalk.
Outiside dining. Does the City lease public ROW to the restaurant closest to the dining area? How does through pedestrian traffic pass between the restaurant and the dining area? How does the wait staff p[ass through the pedestrian traffic with trays of food and / or drink? Or are these picnic tables to sit at purchasing food from nearby restaurants? Who cleans up? Can you smoke either on the public space sidewalk or the designated eating area?
The answers to most of these questions, and to many others, are here:
http://www.accessfayetteville.org/government/city_clerk/city_code/index.cfm
The Internet is a wonderful thing.
It’s your world David, I’m just living in it.
The Internet is a part of your world, too.