Meeting sponsors were the city of Chariton, Chariton Area Chamber-Main Street and the city's Sidewalk Task Force.
This slide gives some idea of projected timing: Definition of project as well as development of funding and phasing strategies during 2019; design and engineering during 2020; bidding in 2021 and then construction. The project might be completed in one phase, four phases or somewhere in between, depending on revenue flow and other factors.
The projection is that the costs of design and sidewalk construction will be borne by the city, but independent fund-raising will be needed to finance some of the amenities --- decorative brickwork, plantings, furnishings, custom signage, etc. New lighting around the perimeter of the square would replace a system that's been in place for at least 50 years --- and some of the sidewalks are more than a century old.
Here's the area involved in the proposed project, focused entirely on the perimeter of the square. Those who have followed the streetscape process will remember that long-term visioning also involved the center parking lots around the courthouse, direction of traffic flow and other matters. None of these discussions are off the table --- but sidewalks have moved to the top of the priority list and consideration of other aspects, deferred.
The most notable aspects of the design may be the landscaped "bump-outs" that define lanes of vehicular traffic at corners and in mid-block. These are intended to shorten the time pedestrians are exposed to vehicular traffic when crossing streets and also to slow traffic --- the currently wide open square sometimes seems like a race track.
The bump-outs do reduce the number of parallel parking spaces around the exterior of the square from 67 to 50, but --- as the landscape architects point out --- the square will continue to have more parking spaces than any other square of comparable size in the south of Iowa.
Here' a more detailed view of how the bump-outs work. The gray line outlining the courthouse and the parking lots around it represents the center line of two-lane traffic that will continue.
One interesting feature of current square is represented by darker patches in front of some buildings. These represent underground chambers that currently project under the sidewalks and present an engineering challenge since they must be dealt with before new concrete can be put into place. These are common features across Iowa, but must be either securely capped or filled as part of the sidewalk project.
It's anticipated that recent amenities on the square --- planting containers, trash containers and benches will be retained and perhaps in some instances duplicated. But lighting will be entirely new. One proposal is at right in this slide --- a combination of higher lights to illuminate the street, lower lights to illuminate sidewalks, both mounted on poles that allow for the installation of decorative banners and planters. Wiring for the new lighting will be embedded in the sidewalk.
Finally, those who attended the meeting were given an opportunity to "vote" on the type of landscaping that might be used at intersections and mid-block, ranging from "traditional" with trees through permeable arrangements to allow water infiltration and perennial plantings (no trees) to decorative paving.
All in all, it was a productive meeting and it will be interesting to follow this project as it develops.
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