More ideas on downtown Fort Smith connections presented to CBID

A study presented Thursday (Feb. 15) to the Fort Smith Central Improvement District (CBID) shows a collection of projects costing between $2.5 million and $3 million could help transform and connect downtown making it more appealing to visitors and residents.

The CBID board agreed during the summer to hire MAHG Architecture Inc. for a study to help determine what future projects could best help downtown Fort Smith thrive. MAHG reps have met with the CBID board on a few occasions to brainstorm ideas and flesh out projects. At a meeting Thursday (Feb. 15) they presented more detailed projects and price tags for those.

“We’ve created some ideas of future projects for downtown,” said Galen Hunter with MAHG, noting that connecting downtown with the riverfront, Garrison and Rogers Avenue and Cisterna Plaza to Brunswick Place has been the main focus.

“We wanted to start at the west end (of downtown),” Hunter said. “We’ve been talking about how we get people from Garrison Avenue downtown to the riverfront where we’ve got Harry E. Kelley Park, the amphitheater, the U.S. Marshals Museum, the Community School of the Arts and Fort Kids coming with their children’s museum.”

The idea would be to access the riverfront from the Farmer’s Market parking lot at Second Street and Garrison Avenue by changing A Street from two lanes to one lane from the point it diverges from Riverfront Drive to Second Street. There would be a gateway that would make it very evident there was a crossing.

“We could take it down to one lane for one and a half blocks. It would not close traffic flow. But we can use that extra space (taken from making that short distance one lane) to create a pedestrian promenade to get us from the corner where the Blue Lion and 21 West End are down to the (Riverfront) Events Building,” Hunter said.

What you wind up with is a 21-foot pedestrian promenade that’s marked with a gateway, and A Street is kept open, he said.

“We’ve just taken it from being dominated by truck traffic and given it back to the pedestrian,” Hunter said.

The cost of this project would be a little more than $500,000, he said.

GARRISON AVENUE ACCESS
As for crossing Garrison Avenue, which is four lanes and has heavy traffic, Hunter suggested a test of a pedestrian scramble. This is when lights going both directions are simultaneously red, allowing pedestrians to cross the large street north and south as well as diagonally because no traffic will be going on through streets or Garrison Avenue at the point of the crosswalk.

“It can present a challenge for those programming the lights, especially when wanting to keep traffic flow, but it can make a big difference in safety for the pedestrians,” Hunter said.

The lights would only be activated when pedestrians pushed a button on the light for the crosswalk and lights would remain red for the time determined by the city for a safe cross. The total cost for the project would be about $7,000.

Another option includes using the walkway at Rogers Avenue where there is a gateway at the end of trolley tracks. Pedestrians could then cross under the bridge. The idea is to add colored LED lights under the bridge to create a “selfie spot” as well as make the area more brightly lit and safe, Hunter said. Though he said the option would be low cost, he did not have an estimate for the light installation.

ROGERS, GARRISON CONNECTIONS
For better connection of Rogers and Garrison avenues, Tim Varner with MAHG presented proposed projects at Court Street connector between First National Bank and some of the law firms, an Art Walk connector by the state office building and Prohibition Bar and a connector at the Fort Smith downtown parking garage on Rogers Avenue.

“We determined Rogers Avenue is very important as far as pedestrian and cyclist circulation, and it’s an easier target than Garrison Avenue,” Varner said. “We want to strengthen the connectors between Rogers Avenue and Garrison Avenue.”

The Court Street connector already has a good foundation, but could be strengthened by making sidewalks more accessible and by walling trash cans. The cost of that project would be $345,000.

“What that looks like when reorganizing … is to give a clear five feet up against the business … coupled with an additional five-foot lane for pedestrians to walk through (in front of parking) gives you a feel of a 10-foot sidewalk in front of those storefronts,” Varner said.

An Art Walk connector would include an entry plaza, art pedestals with art that could be rotated at certain intervals, string lights and an art walk sign and would cost about $50,778, Varner said.

The Parking Garage Connector would include connector sidewalk improvements, transportation hub improvements and a Garrison City Park improvement. The parking garage connector area would see a large trolley and bus stop shelter with directional signage, Varner said, as well as public-use bicycle racks, bicycle or scooter rental racks and landscaping and a brick buffer between the sidewalk and traffic. The cost would be about $184,447, he said. The cost of a Garrison City Park would be about $77,000.

CISTERNA PLAN
The third area for a major project would be at Cisterna Park and include improvements to Towson Avenue and 10th Street, said Devon Tabor with MAHG. The project would include Towson Avenue pedestrian promenade, a Cisterna open lawn area, Cisterna Plaza improvements and 10th Street Pedestrian Improvements.

The pedestrian promenade and lawn project would include concrete paver road lined with lights and trees, bollards at ends of the pedestrian promenade and concrete chess tables with an estimated cost of $899,263, Tabor said.

The Cisterna Plaza and 10th Street project would include building a retaining wall to match the existing stone wall, widening the sidewalk and lining it with trees and narrowing the road at the pedestrian crossings. It would cost approximately $623,252, Tabor said.

Hunter said the next step would be for members of the CBID board and other stakeholders to review the projects and rank them in order of viability, need and attainability, which they will do at the CBID meeting in March.