Traverse City News and Events

New Plan For East Front Street

By Beth Milligan | Aug. 2, 2017

A section of Front Street property owners contend has long been overlooked is finally getting its moment in the spotlight.

A $5,000 planning grant from Rotary Charities – along with a $1,250 city match – is funding a public input process to gather feedback on potential improvements along East Front Street between Park Street and Grandview Parkway. Plan-It East, as the study is called, is being spearheaded by Traverse City consulting firm Influence Design Forum.

A steering committee of East Front Street property owners, merchants, city planning commissioners and Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board members is providing guidance on the project, while a combination of online polls, events and installations – like a public chalkboard up on East Front Street – will be used to gather community input and ideas.

DDA Executive Director Rob Bacigalupi explains the project is coming ahead of a planned 2019 reconstruction of East Front Street’s streetscape. The city’s capital improvement plan (CIP) lists a $915,000 price tag for the project. “We wanted to start early and start planning what the streetscape improvements are going to look like, but also looking at nearby things like crosswalks and plazas,” says Bacigalupi. “Obviously that stretch has been neglected, and therefore it probably is one of the least improved (corridors) in downtown. (Property owners) have looked around and said, ‘OK, it’s our turn to get some basic improvements.’ Now we just need to figure out what those are.”

In addition to the streetscape, Plan-It East has designated 12 separate project areas for which property owner and public input is being sought along the corridor. Project categories include Wellington Plaza, Park Street Bridge Repair, Park Street Beach Access, 300 Block Mid-Block Crosswalk, Lot D/Boardman River Boat-launch, Boardman River Pedestrian Bridge, Murchie Bridge Improvements, Murchie Bridge Underpass, Mini Park, Pump House Property, Park Street Streetscape and Public Restrooms, and Front Street & Grandview Parkway Intersection. Nearly 300 people have weighed in so far on individual polls offering design options for each of those sites on a Plan-It East Facebook page, according to City Planning and Engineering Assistant Missy Luick.

“The most controversial area is the intersection of Front Street and Grandview Parkway,” says Luick. “There are options including a roundabout, going to a T-shaped intersection or keeping it the same. The results are pretty mixed so far in that regard.”

Consensus seems to be gathering around some ideas, however, including maximizing public access to the Boardman River at sites like the Wellington Plaza (marked by a blue banner across from The Little Fleet), at the city’s pump house and on city property next to Morsels.

“I think the most potential is right on the water,” agrees The Little Fleet owner Gary Jonas, who sits on the project steering committee. “There are probably four or five spots that are city property right on the water. I think there’s an enormous amount of opportunity to utilize that space…to create somewhere for people to hang out and enjoy the river.”

Luick says the city has received riverfront suggestions ranging from constructing public riverfront patios with seating to adding overlook platforms to providing public performance spaces to trimming back landscaping to enhance river views. “It’s city land, so there’s the potential to do something creative,” she says.

Plan-It East will host a trivia night at The Little Fleet Thursday (August 3) from 5:30pm to 7pm to seek additional public input on options. At the event – billed as a "fun alternative" to a traditional public meeting – attendees will learn about the history of the corridor, answer Traverse City trivia and use digital voting clickers to weigh in on design options, with results shown instantaneously. Influence Design Forum will use feedback from the event, online polling results and steering committee input to create a report this fall outlining recommended design options throughout the corridor. A second stage of planning will follow specifically focused on the streetscape design for East Front Street.

While only the streetscape improvements have funding attached to them so far, Luick says design options for surrounding areas could potentially either be incorporated into that project or added to the city’s CIP as separate projects if there’s strong public support for them. “If we get a lot of feedback on something, we could seek direction from the DDA, planning commission and city commission about pulling that project out as a priority for the CIP,” she says. “There could also be small or incremental changes, like adding a water bottle filling station. It’s at least a cohesive look at the corridor and vicinity and what could come from that.”

With significant investment already made on downtown’s west end – including in the Warehouse District and West Front Street – East Front property owners believe the planning project is overdue. Both Bacigalupi and Luick acknowledge hearing “street envy” comments from East Front merchants following West Front Street’s reconstruction in 2015. “It’s very much deserving of attention,” says Luick. “The sidewalks are in pretty poor condition. In the 400 block, there are no street trees to speak of.”

The Cooks’ House co-owner Eric Patterson, who’s been in the corridor over a decade, agrees. “This part of Front Street has been neglected by just about everybody,” Patterson says. “We had to beg to get crosswalks. The sidewalk across the street is still in the same condition it was 10 years ago when we opened. With The Little Fleet, we’ve got this hip, happening street corner now – so let’s treat it that way."

Jonas adds he hopes the project will reduce the “mental block” downtown visitors have when walking east on Front Street, viewing downtown as ending at Park Street. “Friday Night Live, the Cherry Drop, all these events end at Park Street,” he says. “We’d love to get people to realize we’re part of downtown.”

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