“Downtown success a 2-way street- Proposed ‘Streetscape’ heralds a return to driving to, not through, Lexington”
published by the Lexington Herald-Leader www.kentucky.com
By Tom Eblen – Herald-Leader columnist

What went wrong with American downtowns during the last half of the 20th century?

A lot, actually. But one big thing was that they were redesigned to work better for cars than for people. It’s no wonder people abandoned them.

Lexington escaped the worst of it. Unlike many cities, Lexington didn’t have an expressway routed through the middle of it. Interstate highways made America’s small towns and rural areas more accessible, but they devastated many cities — cutting up neighborhoods and making downtowns less walkable, welcoming and safe.

Downtown Lexington’s legacy from 20th century traffic engineering efficiency is its one-way street pairs — primarily the east-west corridors of Short and Second, High and Maxwell, Main and Vine and the north-south corridor of Limestone and Upper.

It was all done in the early 1970s with the best of intentions: Make it easier for shoppers to get to and from downtown so the stores won\’t move to the suburbs.

It didn’t work. Worse yet, those one-way streets have hampered public and private efforts to reinvent and revitalize downtown Lexington ever since.

Here’s the problem: Cars go faster on one-way streets, especially when lanes are wide. That makes traffic more dangerous, especially for pedestrians, and more noisy. One-way streets hurt business and confuse tourists.

Fortunately, after years of struggle, efforts to revive downtown Lexington are taking hold, thanks to some good planning and more than $300 million in private investment. Mayor Jim Newberry unveiled a new “streetscape” plan Thursday that could make downtown even better.

The plan, developed by Covington-based KKG Studios, would make downtown a more people-friendly place to live, work and play. It also would add bicycle lanes and 170 additional street parking spaces during non-peak hours. Wider sidewalks would allow for easier walking and more outdoor dining.

A water feature would be built along Vine Street following the path of Town Branch Creek, which was buried beneath the street generations ago. A European-style glass pavilion would be built on Cheapside, Lexington’s historic marketplace, as a home for the Lexington Farmers Market and community events.

It’s a terrific plan that could help downtown achieve its potential for contributing to Lexington’s economy and quality of life. It also assumes the conversion of most, if not all, of the one-way streets back to two-way traffic. That follows the recommendation of Lexington’s 2006 downtown master plan.

Plans call for Short and Second streets to return to two-way traffic within 12 months, said Harold Tate, president of the Downtown Development Authority. Limestone and Upper Streets would be made two-way within two or three years. But Tate said further studies are needed before setting a timetable for returning two-way traffic to High, Maxwell, Main and Vine streets.

At Thursday’s news conference, Newberry was pessimistic about returning two-way traffic to downtown’s biggest drag strips — Main and Vine streets. “It’s very complicated,” he said, citing likely pushback from state traffic engineers and others. Newberry said he didn’t expect to see it happen “in my lifetime.”

That makes no sense.

After all, Main Street is two-way in each direction until it reaches downtown. That means traffic speeds up just when it should be slowing down.

“We’ve had a failed 40-year experiment with one-way streets downtown,” said Phil Holoubek, a downtown developer whose projects include Main & Rose and the Nunn Building Lofts.

Once other one-way streets are converted and the Newtown Pike extension is completed in 2014 to route through-traffic around downtown, there’s no reason not to return Main and Vine to two-way, he said.

Van Meter Pettit, a downtown resident who is developing the Town Branch Trail, agrees. “Otherwise, we’re saying that commuter traffic is a higher priority than urban redevelopment, when our master planning is telling us just the opposite,” he said.

Successful cities across America are converting their one-way streets back to two-way and looking for other ways to make their downtowns work better for people than cars. In perhaps the boldest move yet, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans Friday to convert Times Square into a pedestrian mall by May.

Lexington’s city officials and their consultants have invested a lot of time, effort and money in solid plans for revitalizing downtown. They shouldn\’t let nay-saying by state traffic engineers or others jeopardize those efforts.

If downtown Lexington is to achieve its potential, it must become a place people want to drive to — not drive through.

Reach Tom Eblen at (859) 231-1415 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 1415, or at teblen@herald-leader.com. Read and comment on his blog, The Bluegrass & Beyond, at Kentucky.com.

Some one-way streets changing to two-way
From the St. Petersburg Times

Mike Brassfield, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, August 24, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG — Should a downtown have more one-way streets or two-way streets? When it comes to that question, St. Petersburg and Tampa are driving in opposite directions.

Tampa has quietly shelved plans to switch several one-way streets to two-way. In contrast, St. Petersburg is weeks away from putting two-way traffic on the streets running north and south on each side of the BayWalk complex.

You might think this would not make much difference, but traffic engineers, urban planners and businesses say it does. The two kinds of streets do different jobs.

A one-way street is basically a traffic funnel designed to quickly and efficiently sweep cars through an area. Two-way streets tend to be better for businesses — they’re slower and more inviting to pedestrians, generating more customers. Cars are less likely to barrel past shops and restaurants, and walkers are more likely to drop in.

“The tendency now is that more cities are going back to two-way streets,” said Wilson Stair, Tampa’s urban design manager.

Tampa Bay’s two biggest downtowns will continue to have a mix of one- and two-way thoroughfares, but the trend is leading away from one-way.

St. Pete shuffle

Two-way traffic might boost business, but St. Petersburg’s main reason for making the switch is to make its downtown less of a pain for drivers.

“We get complaints from people visiting downtown that our one-way streets make it confusing,” said city transportation director Joe Kubicki.

Within 30 days, the city will convert First and Second streets from one-way to two-way traffic between Central and Fifth Avenue N, the area around BayWalk. Officials have been meeting with property owners to talk through concerns, including the need to get cars in and out of BayWalk’s parking garage.

Two years ago, when the city converted these same two streets between Central and Fifth Avenue S, it ran into opposition from Bayfront Tower residents. This time, the idea appears to have support from nearby businesses and residents.

“The one-way streets are totally inefficient. Every trip you take is twice as long as it needs to be,” said Timothy Baker, past president of the city’s Downtown Neighborhood Association, who lives on Second Street.

While Tampa has spent more than $800,000 a pop to convert some of its one-way streets, St. Petersburg will spend only $50,000 on this job. But that’s just to adjust traffic lights and signs. That figure doesn’t count the cost of repaving because the city was planning to do that anyway, Kubicki said. Also, pricey traffic signals designed to withstand hurricane-force winds won’t be installed until later.

The city has converted one-way stretches of Second avenues N and S and Third Avenue N, and it may tackle other parts of those roads in the future.

Still, the major one-way routes leading into and out of downtown are going to stay one-way. That includes First avenues N and S, which cross the city; Fifth avenues N and S, which link to the interstate; and Third and Fourth avenues, which are controlled by the state.

Most of downtown’s one-way patterns were devised a generation ago when the city expected massive population growth to create monster traffic jams.

“We built this in anticipation of something that never really came,” Baker said. “You look at some of these streets, they’re five lanes wide and there’s no cars on them most of the time.”

Two-waying Tampa

During her first term, Mayor Pam Iorio announced a multiyear plan to put two-way traffic on four of the smaller east-west downtown streets just north of Kennedy Boulevard. They had been one-way for 50 years, but Iorio and downtown boosters wanted a more pedestrian-friendly environment.

Madison Street was converted in 2006, Twiggs Street in 2007. Since then, more businesses are slowly taking root there.

“Two-way traffic slows things down and creates a more interactive environment. It’s been a good thing for us,” said Jeff Darrey, president of Indigo Coffee, which opened a shop on Twiggs this year. A pizza place and a sandwich shop will soon open in the same building.

Zack and Polk streets were to be next, starting this summer. Cass and Tyler streets might have followed, although major one-way arteries like Florida Avenue, Tampa Street and Kennedy Boulevard were off the table.

Then the city ran out of money. Rewiring the downtown street grid is surprisingly expensive, it turns out. Two-waying Madison cost $810,000, Twiggs $870,000.

Why so much? Crews repaved the streets or replaced damaged brick on the road surface; installed new traffic and pedestrian signals and faux-brick crosswalks; put down new stripes and arrows with thermoplastic paint; and reconfigured parking spaces and meters.

Some still hope to see Zack and Polk streets get the switch.

“It’s good for business because it’s good for people. It makes downtown more user-friendly,” said John Bell, president of the Tampa Theatre, which sits between the two streets.

But the two-waying project is on hold, perhaps permanently.

“That’s on the back burner for now,” said Tampa public works administrator Steve Daignault. Instead, downtown property taxes are being used for a new $15-million riverfront park.

Mike Brassfield can be reached at brassfield@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3435.
from the St Petersburg Times. Sunday, August 24, 2008

From Business Lexington www.bizlex.com
February 19, 2009
by Van Meter Pettit, AIA

Lexington, KY – In a merged urban county where we have pledged for 50 years to preserve two-thirds of the land area as a world heritage monument for our signature equine industry, it should be clear to everyone that our economic future rests on how densely and carefully we develop the core of our city. If we choose to maintain our unique rural character, whatever land remains inside our urban boundary must become perpetually more dense and productive. To quote our recent 2040 survey, we want Lexington to have a “Great City Life in a Productive Rural Paradise.” Outside consultants and local advocates have relayed to us repeatedly that if we want to compete on a national level for jobs and business we must develop a downtown that is as compelling in nature as our rural landscape. Every parcel of every block in our city’s center needs to be viewed as the seed corn for a future harvest.

From the observations made by executives of Toyota, Lexmark, and UK Hospital we now understand that a weak and lackluster downtown is not just an embarrassment, it is a critical deficiency that will relegate us to second- or third-tier status among American cities. If we do not generate an optimal climate for urban culture, growth, and innovation, we will watch our creative businesses and college graduates move away to better job environments. Despite the recent flourish of downtown masterplanning and urban mixed-use development, Lexington has yet to commit faithfully to optimizing our downtown. Significant aspects of our 2006 downtown masterplan have been set aside or watered down.

Though motivated by good intentions and a concern for time and money, critical aspects of our most recent streetscape plan deviate profoundly from our first masterplan in ways that need debate and scrutiny. What is most time-critical at present is the mandate to convert our downtown streets back to two-way traffic. After thousands of hours of public input, the 2006 masterplan was emphatic about downtown street conversions. And yet the latest streetscape plan suggests that we redevelop Vine and Main as one-way streets. The conversion of our once two-way streets into a one-way system in our downtown is a ’60s era experiment that has failed. Our once vibrant downtown is a mere shadow of its former self. Converting our urban byways into a confusing labyrinth of restricted intersections and one-way streets has discouraged pedestrian and commercial life. Many of our best downtown landmarks and commercial property are visually inaccessible because of the one-way traffic flow. Aside from some attractive spots here and there, downtown has acres of asphalt lots and marginally used real estate. A growing chorus of visiting consultants all echo what is now a national consensus: One-way streets are good for moving commuter traffic and very bad for downtown business. Scores of cities across the U.S. have converted one-way streets back to two-way to improve their urban environments.

Since our long-term future depends on a strong and growing urban economy, it would follow that we are busily converting our one-way streets back to their original two-way condition. Sadly this is not the case.

Despite every indication that downtown would benefit from these conversions, it has been several years since ANY conversion large or small has been made. In fact we are poised to invest millions of dollars at a time of scarcity to improve Main and Vine as one-way streets. We as a community have said over and over that we need a “24/7” downtown, but the decision to renew this failed urban experiment is inspired by a two-hour-a-day drive-through mindset.

It is understandable that our government is concerned that a delay in our daily commute will generate public wrath. But the debate over commute times and two-way conversions has never been put clearly to the public in the context of the well-observed economic merits. This issue has been debated all over the country already and the consensus from scores of communities is consistent: two-way conversions, while temporarily disruptive and controversial, are a net benefit for the economy and the life of the city.

We strongly urge the council and mayor to vote for a clear mandate for two-way conversions with a specific timetable for each pair of streets. Although it will not be quick, cheap, or easy, we eventually need to convert all our major streets back to two-way if we want to optimize conditions for development and commerce downtown. How do we expect to make our city what it needs to be without reversing one of the clear obstacles to its redevelopment?

This issue needs to be clearly resolved for all subsequent planning decisions to be made coherently. If this remains an avoided debate, it will be a source of ambiguity sure to discourage confidence and investment. We will likely make costly mistakes as a city down the road without a clear mandate to guide us. If it is clearly explained, Lexingtonians all want what is best in the long-term rather than what is cheapest or most expedient. We all want a growing economy and a bright future so our children and grandchildren can grow up in the Bluegrass. Our economic future depends on an optimized and reinvigorated urban core. This major issue was recommended in 2006 and now warrants timely resolution and implementation.

Van Meter Pettit, AIA, is president of Town Branch Trail, Inc., a 501-c-3 nonprofit dedicated to advocacy for the creation of a multi-use trail linking downtown Lexington with its equine landscape via the historic Town Branch corridor.

2.6.09 Lexington Herald-Leader
By Beverly Fortune – bfortune@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A state board gave preliminary approval to two downtown Lexington developments that would be the first in the city to use future tax revenues as a way to help finance the projects.
The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority board gave approval on Thursday to the Lexington Distillery District on Manchester Street and the Phoenix Park/Courthouse Development Area in downtown near the planned CentrePointe high-rise.

An extensive review process remains before either can get final approval.

Barry McNees, developer of the Distillery District, called the approval “a tremendous watershed moment, to get even tentative approval by the state.”

The state has hired Economics Research Associates of Chicago to do a consultant report on both districts. The firm will look at the financial feasibility of each, how appropriate it is to use tax increment money to pay for public infrastructure in each and whether the developments will create new taxes for the commonwealth.
After the consultant’s work is finished, the KEDFA staff will work with the Office of the State Budget Director and the Department of Revenue to evaluate both tax increment financing proposals and decide which state taxes to use for the TIF, how much and exactly what the money will pay for, said Brad Thomas, an assistant director in the department of financial incentives.

The KEDFA board will then make the final decision on whether to direct state tax money toward the projects.
The Distillery District and the Phoenix Park/Courthouse area are separate TIF applications and will be considered separately at the state level, Thomas said.

Mandy Lambert, spokeswoman for the Cabinet for Economic Development, could not predict how long it would take to go through these steps.

A vexing issue with CentrePointe has been a reluctance by the developers to reveal their source of funding. Lambert said the source is identified in the Phoenix Park/Courthouse application for state TIF funds because CentrePointe is the economic engine for that area. A statutory requirement keeps that financial information confidential, she said.

“We are comfortable with the financing at this juncture. Additional analysis will be done by the consultant,” she added.

The idea behind tax increment financing is that in blighted urban areas, development creates new tax revenue that the city would not have if the land stayed neglected.

A brief look at the two state TIF applications:

Lexington Distillery District: Planned as a 25-acre mixed arts and entertainment district. Included will be a micro distillery and bourbon museum in the old James E. Pepper Distillery; 277 live-work studios and loft condominiums; 70,000 square feet of office space, 85,000 square feet of retail and 17,000 of restaurant space.

Total cost for the project is $190 million. Of that total, $81 million would be paid for by state TIF money. This includes public improvements such as land preparation, sewer and storm drainage. The five-story Pepper distillery and storage building will operate as public facilities, with legal title held by Lexington Fayette Urban County Government.

In the preliminary report the KEDFA staff recommended that the maximum amount of state tax money not exceed $61 million or 75 percent of the project. Local government would be in for 25 percent.
Phoenix Park/Courthouse Area: Project is 14.25-acre development driven by the construction and operation of CentrePointe, a 35-story development. Cost for the complex and nearby TIF improvements is $298 million.
What the city wants in the way of public improvements here is a tunnel to connect Phoenix Park to the high rise, a pedway to connect the Financial Center garage to CentrePointe, a 331-space underground Phoenix Park garage, a new Phoenix Park, restoration of the old Fayette County Courthouse, Cheapside Park and courthouse plaza; permanent site for Lexington Farmers Market with covered structure, sidewalk improvements and public art.

The staff recommended $112 million maximum state TIF participation in this project.

2.6.09 Lexington Herald-Leader
By Beverly Fortune – bfortune@herald-leader.com

by Erik A. Carlson for Business Lexington
www.bizlex.com

February 05, 2009

CentrePointe and Distillery District get preliminary TIF green light- Finance Authority to begin process, both projects could be approved in 90-120 days

Frankfort, KY – Both the Lexington Distillery District and the Phoenix Park and Courthouse area project in conjunction with CentrePointe are closer to reality as the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) gave both projects preliminary approval Thursday morning in Frankfort to take part in the state’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program.

From here the projects could get final approval and start collecting tax increments within 90-120 days under the Cabinet for Economic Development’s timeline. A third party consultant for the state, Chicago-based Economic Research Associates will work for the state to determine the projects’ feasibility and increments.

“By granting preliminary approval, KEDFA would enable staff to begin working with the Office of the State Budget Director and the Department of Revenue to create criteria for which a consultant would review the project feasibility including financing, appropriateness for the use of the TIF program, and potential increments, and whether the project represents a net positive impact to the commonwealth,” Cabinet for Economic Development material stated in the explanation of the process which is new to the cabinet from the original TIF law passed in 2007. “Upon completion of the consultant’s report and if it is determined that the project provides a net positive impact for the commonwealth, staff will then begin the negotiations to determine the level of participation by the commonwealth and what taxes will be used for incremental financing. Once negotiations are finalized, staff will then present the project to KEDFA for final approval.”

Both projects were given unanimous preliminary approval from the small KEDFA board with relatively little discussion of the projects.

Distillery District developer Barry McNees called the board’s vote “a huge, significant step.”

The CentrePointe project, which itself is not reliant on the TIF approval, but instead will be used to fund projects at the old courthouse and Phoenix Park is working on getting lane closure permits along Main and Vine to allow for construction according to Kimberly Bryant, and attorney with Greenebaum, Doll and McDonald.

Bryant also said architectural engineering is going on for the under ground parking garage to be associated with the project.

TIF laws in Kentucky allow for areas deemed blighted to capture tax revenue above current levels that are generated by redevelopment to go back into the TIF district to fund public projects such as infrastructure and public spaces. While the taxes themselves are not higher than any other area of town, any new tax money from the area which normally would go into the city and state coffers will go to reimburse the eligible projects for 20 years in the case of the Distillery District and 30 years for the CentrePointe project.