MyWHaT

Editor’s Intro: MyWHaT’s guest contributor, Peter Spaulding, is working on the Cherry Republic Center as an urban planner, design consultant, and project assistant. Peter lives and works in Traverse City. He is co-founder of Placework DG and a graduate of the Urban and Regional Planning program at the University of Michigan. As the Cherry Republic Center is set to move forward after the latest city commission vote, Peter explains below why he is encouraged by its potential. 

The Cherry Republic Center Opportunity 

by Peter Spaulding

If you have followed the news, you may be aware that the development known as the Cherry Republic Center (RE) has made a step forward (IPR) through the approval process. Thanks to the City Commission, the state will now be able to look at the Brownfield plan approved by the Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. It is a major milestone and we are happy that the next stages of project development can move forward.

Corner of Front and Cass Streets.

There has been a lot of work done already to wrangle numbers and respond to concerns in order to provide the best project possible. Luckily the process has all been for the best; the time simply doesn’t seem right to make flashy improvements downtown. The project has gotten lean and mean, and will instead pay to upgrade electrical infrastructure, complete preventative street light maintenance, improve streetscapes, and clean-up environmental contamination on Lot O. Cherry Republic is donating the construction, operation, and maintenance of public restrooms to the city for 20 years.

We can now tackle the mountain of work remaining and really bite into some of the fun stuff. The design team can further develop form and the function, and how the project will interact socially and physically amongst its surroundings to leverage and celebrate this corner for all of Traverse City. As designs are finalized, the building itself will reflect the deep dedication to the belief that investments in good design, construction, and materials pay long-term dividends. Minimizing the costs of heating, cooling, and electricity, and limiting the maintenance required to keep a building looking and performing great for years is a benefit to residents and citizens alike.

Development is Personal

The Grand Vision is recognized throughout the country and is one of the reasons I even considered moving back to the area in the first place. The goals established are exciting to imagine, and I’m thrilled to have a hand in realizing them. The ways in which this project speaks to my own values and adheres to the goals of the Grand Vision are impressive:  this project fosters unique and vibrant communities and strengthens the local economy; it helps to create a more diverse mix of housing choices while minimizing environmental impacts and advancing sustainable construction and transportation. And, it supports local farmers!

I am biased toward this project, but I am biased because I have faith in the values that guide the people behind it. I know what the big picture is, and look forward to exciting changes everyone can get behind. In the coming weeks and months we will be sharing our vision, and listening to your input. My hope is that we continue to improve the project, and that when the time comes to break ground, this will be a project everyone can be biased toward.

Guest Contributor: Peter Spaulding, part 3 of 3.

• Part I: One-way & Two-way Streets Reflect a Community’s Priorities
• Part II: A One-Way Desert of Parking: State Street

Burden of Traffic Not Shared Equally

Traverse City is a great place to live, but there are many neighborhoods that could easily be made safer and more livable. While concerted effort, creativity, and time will be required to improve all our neighborhoods, simple traffic calming and two-way conversions are straight forward ways to get results in neighborhoods.

As discussed in part I and part II, the design criteria for one-way streets would seem to preclude their use in residential settings. Increased speeds, volumes, and noise, along with decreased pedestrian safety, walkability, and livability are predictable results and would seem less than ideal. Residents on one-way streets also accept disproportionate traffic burdens because one-ways identify themselves as corridors and fastest way to get across town. Overall volumes can be expected to decrease for two-way street conversions in residential settings. Two-way streets share the burdens and benefits of mobility more equally, have inherently lower capacity, and can include design features to further lower speeds and encourage multiple transportation modes.

A consequence of a one-way design on 7th Street is motorists creating more than one lane of traffic. Here two cars create a two-lane street. 7th Street is 30' wide with parking on one side. Leaving, in effect, a 24' wide lane. (photo: GLHowe)

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Safety Issues

Traffic on two-way streets is symmetrical, so looking first left, then right (as taught to children) will work every time. Collisions are more likely when a child only completes the first half of the sequence and traffic is coming from only the “wrong” direction; consistency can play an important role in fostering growing awareness of traffic and safety .

Two-way streets lower speeds, reduce stopping distances, and give motorists and pedestrians of all ages more time to avoid collisions.

Cyclists forced to go against traffic or ride the sidewalk is just one example of a one-way broken street.

Our Acceptance of Speed, Despite the Risks

Speed in neighborhoods is especially important because it is the number one contributor to the severity of a crash related injury. Studies have shown even the difference between 18 mph and 35 mph can mean the difference between crash avoidance or minor injury, and severe injury or death. While 10 mph over the limit is accepted and often expected by other motorists and police, this auto-centric view fails to accept or realize impacts on neighborhoods. The driving mind seems so easily detached from the residential mind; people commonly speed in their own neighborhoods as much as they do others.

One-way Elimination is Part of Traffic Calming

Residents should insist upon traffic calming measures for themselves, but support a more complete street network for everyone. Two-way streets improve the completeness and cohesion of the network and can reduce driver frustration and speeding by providing more direct access to destinations. The addition of traffic circles or planted chicanes can further improve driver behavior on streets where speeds are a problem.

We need to accept responsibility behind the wheel in our own neighborhoods and others, and pressure our governments and road authorities to create facilities that promote livability. Through proper facilities for cyclists and pedestrians, and road designs that help to elicit better behavior from every motorist, all neighborhoods can be made more livable.

Eliminating one-way orientations is a step in the right direction, and should be a priority for both neighborhood residents and the city.

This is the 2nd in a series of posts on one-ways. The others are Part I One-way & Two-way Streets Reflect a Community’s Priorities, part III One-Way to Decrease Residential Livability and the editor’s perspective Conversion of a City’s One-way Street back to a Two-Way Begins with an Ask.

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Is State St. Simply Front St.’s Parking Lot?

Guest Contributor: Peter Spaulding, part 2 of 3.

Part I: One-way & Two-way Streets Reflect a Community’s Priorities

What does the average citizen or visitor to Traverse City think of State Street?

When I look at it I see a waste of space, a desert of parking and a one-way street that serves only to provide smooth access to parking. Maybe others see it differently, but State Street is by no means an example of a street done right in Traverse City. Nice landscaping and street trees fail to make it a livable street; the few businesses that attempt to exist on or even between it and Front are fighting a difficult battle against terrible urban design. It is a boring, unpleasant and uninhabitable place for humans and businesses alike.

Wayfinding on State St. says a lot: Front St. District (photo GLHowe)

State Street’s woes begin with its subordinate relationship to Front Street. Whether actively decided upon or simply defaulted to, State Street became over time the automotive dumping ground for Front Street, a basically understandable and common outcome. The mall, the strip mall, and easy parking enthralled suburban consumers throughout the latter part of the last century; many well-meaning planners and downtown businesses blew their cities apart in unfortunate attempts to compete.

Now the time has come to take the necessary steps to realize State Street’s latent potential, and make it a testament to livability and activity in Traverse City instead of an embarrassment.

Dumping Ground for Parking

The most glaring problem with State Street is its overwhelming dedication to parking, but creating new public places for people to inhabit and enjoy is possible. Changing to a two-way orientation would immediately convert State Street from a temporary space to pass through into a place where people come together. The slowing of traffic and the visibility, walkability, and accessibility created would immediately make non-parking development on State Street more feasible and appealing.

Changes to State Street would also improve the functioning of present and future parking decks downtown. The Hardy Parking Deck would become more accessible, reduce circling traffic, and improve operation of Park Street’s intersections as the 101 N. Park building begins to draw visitors and residents. Without a State Street conversion, significant new development associated with a parking garage at Pine and Front could create significant problems. Problems at Front and Union, and along West Front to Division would limit accessibility to the deck, reduce the success of new businesses and create confusion and congestion that motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists would all be affected by.

Wide open. The trees do little to counter the real purpose of State St, as designed now: the storage of cars & moving motor vehicles through town, quickly (photo: GLHowe).

Move Away from One-way Streets, Beginning with State Street

While a Front Street conversion would be doable and ideal, an easy and necessary first step would be to convert State Street as soon as possible. We will have a prime opportunity as the DDA is set to erect their third parking deck in the near future. Leaving behind the one-way orientation of the past would help to eliminate the use of State Street as solely a conduit for the easy entrance and exit of Front Street traffic.

Present and future parking decks give us an opportunity we as a city can’t afford to miss; we need to make State Street a quality place. By reverting to two-way operation and developing significant new housing (including affordable housing), shops and restaurants on parking lots we no longer need, we will more fully use our investment in structured parking and increase investment in our city. Traverse City will still be a small town, it will just be a more compact and vibrant, and less dedicated to the automobile and its unfortunate storage requirements.

Let’s choose to enjoy State Street as a place, and take the steps necessary to make it happen in the next 5-10 years.

• Part I: One-way & Two-way Streets Reflect a Community’s Priorities

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Editor’s Note: Peter is hitting on something expressed before by others. Some have even expressed it on this BLOG in comments (thanks JRW).  I support the idea of tying a conversion of State St. back to a two-way street to the likely construction of the West Front Street parking deck. So far, I’ve heard no discussion of how the city plans to handle the increased motorized traffic through the city, as well as downtown, the third parking deck will create; I’ve tried.

I’ll post a follow-up on this, and a small call to action, later today.

Editor’s Intro: Introducing MyWHaT’s newest guest contributor, Peter Spaulding. Peter lives and works in Traverse City where he is a freelance urban designer and planning consultant. He is co-founder of Placework DG and a graduate of the Urban and Regional Planning program at the University of Michigan. This is part 1 of a 3 part series on one-way and two-way streets. Currently, Traverse City has 4 major one-way streets: Front St., State St., 7th Street and 8th Street.

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One-way Streets to Move Cars

Guest Contributor: Peter Spaulding, part 1 of 3

One-way street networks in Traverse City need evaluating to see if they truly carry out resident goals, as a conversion back to two-way operation could yield real benefits for multiple user groups. While drawbacks exist for each orientation, the solution that is most appropriate is dependent upon the goals of neighborhoods and the city. One-way streets were ideal when we as a nation were trying to clear out of towns and cities in order to fill up suburbia, but they make considerably less sense today. Justifications for conversion in the downtown core and in the central neighborhoods rely on the same fundamental justifications, but several special considerations can and need to be made in each case.

Are one-way streets stuck in the past?

Pros and Cons

One-way streets are designed to move the greatest number of people possible (in cars), as quickly as possible. Removing opposing traffic and the moderating influence of possible head on collisions allows motorists to concentrate less while operating closer together at higher speeds. One-way streets can also cut the incidence and severity of traffic congestion, delay, and time required to enter or exit the city.

One-way streets eliminate some direct routes and force road users to make extra turns and travel greater distances to reach destinations. In this way, one-way orientations create more traffic and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and can confuse non-local motorists. In extreme instances, motorists might lap blocks multiple times or give up and go home or to the mall. One-way streets reduce the viability of downtown businesses in other ways too. Streets crossing one-ways always have one street facade invisible from automobiles, the western facing facades of Union, Cass and Park Streets are invisible from Front St., making storefronts and successful businesses more difficult there than on east facing Façades.

One-way streets serve the motorist first-and-foremost and deal only with pedestrians and other stakeholders as an afterthought, they are great when a city serves primarily as an office center and moving office workers into and out of the center quickly is very important. When retail businesses and pedestrians are valued, the drawbacks of one-way streets are harder to overlook.

Two-way Streets as Compromise

In a balanced city where residents and other transportation system users are important, two-way systems are an improvement. Two-way streets aren’t optimized for anything, they represent a compromise that attempts to accommodate everyone. In a downtown context, two-way streets offer improved accessibility and direct routing, give all shops improved exposure and make wayfinding easier. Two-way streets reduce turning movements, speeds, volumes[1], and miles traveled, all of which improve downtown livability and safety, and help to make a downtown a pleasant place to be.

Lower speeds and volumes make pedestrians and bicyclists feel more comfortable, they make outdoor café seating enjoyable and help to create the sense of a place to be, not just a place to pass through. On one-way streets you can get the sense that everyone is leaving; on two-way streets, if one lane of traffic is leaving town, then the other must necessarily be coming to town.[2] Even as a psychological trick, the sense of place created by two-way streets is more welcoming.

Two- way conversions might make access to downtown by car take a bit longer during the peak season, but would be more intuitive and offer better business visibility year round. Two-way street conversions would realize benefits in livability, walkability, and downtown vibrancy, and need to be considered as a way to further improve and support a constantly improving urban experience for Traverse City.

[1] While downtown volume is ostensibly good, volume as a result of increased speed is bad.

[2] Presumably to have tons of fun and hang out with you!

Related Articles

• Many cities changing one-way streets back (USA Today)
• One-way Streets in downtown Flint converted into two-ways (mlive.com)
• The Return of the Two-Way Street (governing.com)