Two-way Main Street proposal heads to council after unanimous approval

~ Plan includes reconfiguring the municipal parking lot.

A plan that would make Cape Girardeau's downtown more accessible and easier to navigate took a step towards realization Wednesday when the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a proposal calling for a two-way Main Street and the reconfiguration of the municipal parking lot.

Consultants from the firm Crawford, Bunte and Brammeier who conducted the downtown traffic study made a final pitch and answered questions from the commission in a special study session held before the scheduled vote.

"I'll be the first one to admit I wasn't a big fan of two-way at first, but I like the engineers, and I think they have a good plan," said chairman Skip Smallwood.

Commissioner Ray Buhs echoed that sentiment saying, "I think basically it's a good plan, and they did a good job presenting it. I don't think we can improve on it too much."

The proposal still must be approved by city council at the next meeting on February 21.

One of the principal transformations would occur at the municipal parking lot facing Independence. The lot is used by many motorists on Aquamsi Street as a way to connect to Independence. Re-striping and changing the exit locations of the lot would eliminate this potential, but it would also mean a net loss of 65 of the lot's current 180 spaces.

After some discussion, Planning and Zoning approved this change, but called for an additional exit onto Merriwether Street to be added to the consultant's plans giving the lot a total of three exits.

Another consideration is the Main Street Clock. "I've asked a couple of people and no one knows the historic significance of the clock," said commissioner Bill Hinckley. "It's a nice clock, but I don't see any reason why it can't be relocated."

The plan, however, does not call for the clock to be moved. In fact, said engineers, the obstacle is helpful in keeping speeds to a minimum. The plan calls for the circular island around the clock to be transformed into a square using cement dividers. This would prevent Main Street drivers from taking left turns onto Themis Street and Themis Street drivers from turning left onto Main Street.

City officials estimate the cost to move the clock at $10,000 to $12,000.

The traffic consultants calculated Main Street has an average traffic load of 2,780 vehicles per day. This, said engineer Doug Shatto, is not an inordinately high amount. Shatto said the primary reason for a change to the street is to aid navigability and accessibility rather than to alleviate congestion.

Dividing the streeet into two 10.5-foot lanes would not speed up traffic flow, but it would be more friendly to visitors and provide and atmosphere consistent with "new urbanism," which embraces the distractions of pedestrian traffic, parallel parking, and other bustle.

This is consistent with many business owners' hopes for the area. "We don't want Main Street to be a race track," said merchant Kent Zickfield, "We want traffic to slow down and look in windows, the things [the consultant] is proposing are things we want."

One form of bustle no one wants, however, is obstructive delivery trucks. For that reason, the plan calls for four permanent loading zones for commercial vehicles to avoid trucks from holding up traffic while making deliveries. The consultants recommended the striping of two 18-foot loading zones and two 60 foot loading zones. These additions would result in a net loss of 10 parking spaces in and around Main Street.

Changes to Main Street will be in partnership with a decision to make William Street the main route channeling visitors into the city.

"William is the natural corridor," said Shatto. "Broadway is not the kind of road you would use to promote a lot of traffic through the area; it's not the most user friendly route to find the area. William is a straighter shot, there is less decision making for an outsider."

The hope is that visitors exiting off of I-55 will take the William exit to come downtown, and this hope will be reinforced by signs posted by the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Chatto said the ultimate appeal of his plan is its flexibility. "These changes can be easily undone, if you have a problem, and with a relatively low cost. You've got a lot of flexibility here."

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245