Council discusses possibly revamping Front Street

    Springtime brings pastels, egg shaped Reese's Cups, allergy season and a need for spring cleaning. Out with the old and in with new - this applies more than just to cleaning out closets, but also to city business. The main themes in the April 9 study session involved tidying up loose ends for capitol projects and organizing a possible Front Street facelift.
    The Downtown Steering Committee has partnered up with J.A. Brennan and Associates to draft a master plan of the Front Street Park and Plaza. After submitting the plot to the city, Joel Waliniski presented it to the council at the study session as an overview as to what could possibly come to fruition for the, arguably, busiest area of town.
    "We started this project after a request by the Downtown Steering Committee to take a look at the park," said Joel Walinski, City Administrator.  
    With the creation of a bus drop off closer with a flat landscape handicap access, a possible amphitheater and morphing Front Street into entirely one lane - there would be a lot of changes to the outward appearance of Front Street and the park area.
    The major priority was bathroom expansion, though it won't eliminate having to wait in line during festivals, it can ease the wait time for getting a stall during summer days. The committee went in the direction of just expanding the bathroom rather than duplicating one in a different location.
    During the winter, it is not uncommon to see children squealing down the hill next to the gazebo - there was a push to make safety conscious changes to the hill that doubles as a town sledding staple for kids to bound down during the winter. One step is for the city to lower elevation from 12 feet to 8 feet. Another step is with some grating, the sliding will be diverted to go a different direction that causes the sled to move slower and safer, according to Walinski.
    "(The last priority for the draft was) from what we heard from the community, from the residential advisory committee to the planning commission to conversations just out and about, what would this look like as a walking plaza?" said Walinski.  
    The idea seemed to garner mixed reactions from the council as Walinski explained the process of converting Front Street into a pedestrian mall. Council member, Elmer Larsen, said if the city were to go through with making it centered on pedestrians, he'd like to see a parking structure go up.
    "All of these walking plazas, not just in Leavenworth - in Seattle and Boulder, Colorado, what it gets down to is, are you creating a space more for pedestrians or to create space and make the cars a priority?" said Walinski.
    Using Commercial Street as a reference, Walinski explained that when the city redid the street, there wasn't enough room for parking and sidewalks so a decision was made in favor of pedestrians.
    "One of the reasons that we kind of put this on hold for a little bit of time is they (Steering Committee) would like to see how this matches up with some kind of a parking structure. And somehow move forward with both of these in a planned way. Doesn't mean you have to build them at the same time, but if you build this first, you're already on way building a parking structure," said Walinski.   
    Walinski couldn't give a concrete number but with some contingencies, the cost would be in the $8.5 million ballpark. He noted some avenues that could lessen the intensity of the cost for the city: grants, Lodging Tax or other possible options like Business Improvement District funds.
    "If you're in that ballpark, you need to figure out what's the best way of funding that project. That's part of what our work is now," said Walinski.
    The draft lay out did prod some council members to volley back and forth some concern: traffic congestion from a one lane Front Street, lack of parking, sound pollution from the amphitheater and danger with people swerving around the horse drawn carriages.  
    "The benefitting area is going to be the businesses, I wouldn't see it affecting the residencies too much. But definitely the businesses and property owners downtown so we'd have to walk through that," said Walinski.
    According to Walinski, the Downtown Steering Committee is beginning to reach out to property owners to address the possible changes.
    If the city decides to move forward with the Front Street and Park changes, the first phase could starting with the bathroom expansion and stair access to the plaza. Another first phase option is starting with both of those aspects along with terrace seating.
    "From the Steering Committee, their recommendation was get an architect on board and they can go into 25%, 30% drawing for you, really hone in on what the scope of the work is and give you a good cost estimate of what it would be," said Walinski.  
    Notice was given by Public Works Director, Herb Amick, on some projects in Leavenworth - work on the Leavenworth Pool surge tank was completed April 5. The pool will run for its season then in the fall the resurfacing will begin.
    Construction for the ADA ramps along Highway 2 will begin on April 22 and the city has already approved a noise variance at a previous council meetings. The construction is necessary after state regulations have changed.
    The crosswalk improvement construction for the Hawk System will take 44 days of construction and the crossings will be installed at the Park and Ride lot along with City Hall and Gustav's.  
    Walinski also announced the council retreat Friday, April 12 at the Bavarian Lodge. Two large components of the conversation will be tethered to Lodging Tax allocation and the policies along with the proposal of a possible community discussion.