Community weighs in on reconstructing parts of downtown Juneau

To create a more pedestrian friendly atmosphere, the project team recommended raising parts of the street to be level with the sidewalks. (Image courtesy City and Borough of Juneau)
To create a more pedestrian friendly atmosphere, the project team recommended raising parts of the street to be level with the sidewalks. (Image courtesy City and Borough of Juneau)

 

Imagine more canopies in downtown Juneau. Imagine a bike rack where a parking space used to be. Imagine more art. These were some of the ideas presented by the city’s Franklin and Front Street Reconstruction project team.

Around 80 people were at Centennial Hall Wednesday night to talk about what downtown should look like. The project team presented their vision, and members of the public got to weigh in.

Laura Wallrath was in favor of some proposals, like parking for bicycles and scooters.

Wallrath lives and works downtown and has been riding a scooter since 2007. She rides a mile to and from work every day year-round, except when it snows. She says downtown parking for smaller modes of transportation is lacking.

“My scooter is taking about a sixth of a car and I think that bicycles and scooters should have ample parking,” Wallrath says.

She also liked the idea of wider sidewalks. She says she cringes when she has to drive on South Franklin Street near the tram.

“It’s just this impossible mile to get through downtown. And you just wish that there was an easier way to keep tourists on the sidewalks because tourists have the right-of-way and they’re not thinking about that we’re living here and we’re trying to get from one place to another,” Wallrath says.

Greg Fisk, Margo Waring and Chris Mertl discuss concepts for improving Franklin and Front streets during a community meeting Wednesday night. (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)
Greg Fisk, Margo Waring and Chris Mertl discuss concepts for improving Franklin and Front streets during a community meeting Wednesday night. (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)

Keli Donnelly works for the small cruise line Un-Cruise Adventures and lives downtown during the tourist season. She liked hearing about adding gateways, physical markers denoting different parts of town.

“Make the gateways subtle, but themed and consistent. I like that idea. I want to bring the people back into the heart of the town. I want the people to be up by the Salts and the Rookeries and the local places. That’s important,” Donnelly says.

The project team's recommendation of adding more canopies in downtown will be part of a larger discussion engaging private business owners. (Image courtesy City and Borough of Juneau)
The project team’s recommendation of adding more canopies in downtown will be part of a larger discussion engaging private business owners. (Image courtesy City and Borough of Juneau)

But she doesn’t want those gateways to be arches across the street.

“I think that’s tacky” Donnelly says.

The city’s project manager Michele Elfers says she’s received a lot of comments about closing down parts of Franklin or Front streets to motor traffic and making it a pedestrian mall.

“Some of the comments were to do it permanently. Then we got a lot of comments just about special events, hosting festivals,” Elfers says. “It’s probably not feasible to shut them down permanently just because in downtown, we don’t have that many access roads in and out.”

But she says the pedestrian feel could still be accomplished by raising parts of the street to be on the same level as sidewalks.

Greg Fisk doesn’t necessarily like that idea. Fisk owns a small consulting company on Seward Street and is on the board of the Downtown Business Association. He’s a strong proponent of a downtown circulator, possibly a street car.

“The raised street design could cause a problem ‘cause you end up with a bump. It’s pretty hard to put track in the street, if you’re going to go to a street car, over a bump,” Fisk says.

Part of the process is figuring out what the community wants, Elfers says. Throwing out a lot of ideas helps people sort out what they like and don’t like.

“What you communicate to us is what your values are and there’s a cost to everything and there’s impacts and there’s values, and that’s where we are right now, trying to balance that,” Elfers says. “So keep that in mind. We’re kind of at a high overhead view now and we’re slowly getting more specific as we go through the process.”

The city will continue to take public comments on reconstructing Franklin and Front streets. Elfers says the project team will revise recommendations based on them and come out with a final report in July, followed by the design phase.

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