What Will The Public Square Look Like in the Future (Part II)?
What Will The Public Square Look Like in the Future (Part II)?
Public comments cause city to reconfigure plans around the Public Square
Earlier this Spring, the city announced plans to make drastic changes to one of the most iconic landmarks in the entire community — the Public Square. As the city hit the streets with two public engagement events, one at the downtown Redmen’s Club and the other at Hobart Arena, and downtown residents heard more about the plan, it became less and less well received. Even this publication spent time talking about the proposed improvements, with this edition of this newsletter being the most read single edition in our publication’s short history:
This publication even went in depth on the public engagement event at Hobart Arena, where 80 residents showed up to listen to the city’s consultants and provide their own ideas and insights on what was planned downtown:
Our Advocacy
Throughout the Spring, this publication advocated for four major outcomes in the final version of the downtown streetscape improvement plan:
Giving Downtown A Break - This publication suggested that no construction should happen before June 2026.
Enhance Crosswalks with Pedestrian Safety in Mind - The slide deck presented to the public on April 17th had no renderings of what enhancements were planned to the crosswalks on the square.
Traffic Should Slow Down - The slide deck presentation showed a new traffic configuration, adding a second lane to the roundabout on the east side, increasing both traffic volume and speed. The lane should be dropped.
Continuing the Conversation - Work with the community to have more and better accessible meetings.
Giving Credit Where It Is Due
Well, late on the afternoon of September 13th, the City announced that as a result of the public comments, changes were being made to the plans surrounding the Public Square. These changes include:
• The “quads” (the parking, sidewalk, and seating areas in each corner of the Square) will be reconfigured and slightly expanded to better protect pedestrian crossings while also maintaining the number of parking spaces in each quadrant.
• The roundabout will remain a single lane, which is different from the original proposed design. This new design has added back more lawn space in the center island. While the lawn space will be reduced slightly from existing, landscape features such as flowers and shrubbery will remain the same size. These changes will enable the new safety features of the crosswalks and adding a new truck apron will accommodate large vehicles and smooth traffic flow.
• The quads will not include elevated platforms. Instead, Prouty Plaza will be redesigned and enhanced to support more patrons and activities.
• Streetscape construction will start later than originally presented. Replacement of water, storm sewer, and other utilities will occur in late 2025, but streetscape construction will not begin before fall 2026.
These Changes Are Welcome
While there weren’t many visuals offered with the September 13th announcement, the words show that the City took the comments of the citizens under advisement when it came to revising the plans that were presented. Enhancing the four parking quads for better pedestrian accessibility while maintaining current parking levels is an admirable goal. Furthermore, scrapping the second lane on the east side of the roundabout is also a favorable development. The changes also indicate that the project is again committed to make pedestrian safety the top priority and not traffic management. Perhaps the greatest change is the delaying of the major part of the project until the latter part of 2026; with all the construction coming into downtown along Main Street, our downtown merchants are in desperate need of some reprieve when it comes down to another major construction project.
What Do You Think?
What do you think of these changes? Do they show the willingness of the City to listen to residents? Does more need to be done? Our paid subscribers are more than welcome to leave their ideas and observations in the comment thread.
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