With repairs on the Jefferson Street pedestrian bridge delayed indefinitely, C-Street residents and city leaders met Thursday night to provide feedback on how to use this year’s High Street TIF funds.
The C-Street TIF Fund was established in 2008 to combat the long-term decline of the historic Springfield district by allowing additional sales taxes to be levied on high street businesses to improve the street’s public amenities.
City senior planner/brownfield coordinator Olivia Hough draws dozens of community stakeholders to steer public spending priorities at annual TIF public meeting, briefs residents on upcoming C-Street projects and asks for more feedback.
“The last time you gave us input was in June 2021 when we brought four projects to the city council and allocated funds for those projects for our streets,” Hough told a conference hosted by the White River Brewing Company Say.
In August 2021, City Council approved $655,000 in TIF and other city funding for a range of projects including installation of directional signs, improvements to two public parking lots, purchase/sponsorship of additional public artwork, and an updated schematic design for Jefferson Avenue Footbridge Plaza.
Public Works will also continue to design and construct the High Street Gateway sign element, which was previously approved for TIF funding of $150,000 in early 2020.
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Surveys asking for feedback on these projects can be completed at tifprojects.questionpro.com.
Here’s what each project is about and the feedback the city wants to get.
Gateway Sign – $150,000+
According to Hough, this was the item that respondents needed the most “full attention” because it was at a “crossroads.”
The city has allocated $150,000 to create an arch announcing the start of C-Street. But that would only fund a street arch. Another option proposed was to use an additional $50,000 to $100,000 in TIF funding to build a second entry arch to reserve the street.
Possible locations include the commercial street east and west entrances. A third installation to welcome the victors of the South could also be placed on Booneville Avenue near Bryan.
The trim level of each arch also varies—the simplest designs cost $115,000 per arch, and the most opulent cost $142,600.
Alternatively, a column can be designed for $64,600 each.
Hough noted that the design of these arches and columns is “far from complete.”
Public Parking Lot Improvements – $595,000
Two public parking lots at Pacific Street and Campbell Avenue and Pacific Street and Robertson Avenue will be redesigned to include new pavement, lighting, landscaping, tree planting and irrigation improvements through cost-sharing between TIF funding and public works funding.
Public comments on the conceptual design of the parking lot were collected in fall 2021. Construction of the new car park is expected this summer.
Current plans include installing electric vehicle charging stations, which Hoff said would benefit “retail areas, as shoppers leave their cars charged to eat and go to retail stores.”
Art Collection Program – $40,000
The Art Collection Program grew out of the C-Street community’s desire to bring art into the public domain and to allocate TIF funds for new and rotating works.
“The plan will serve as a guide for access to new public art, placement, and maintenance and upkeep of the collection. Recommendations in the plan are the result of focus groups, community surveys and experts from local arts organizations,” read a plaque at Thursday’s meeting.
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Hough noted that the city has received a lot of feedback about the art collection program, including the fact that public art is too concentrated near the Jefferson Avenue pedestrian bridge plaza.In response, the city is working to spread the upcoming art installation throughout the high street
“We got a lot of engagement from some of the events and did an online survey evaluating the first series with a long history on the street,” Hough said. “This program will build on and build upon.”
Other possible art locations include right-of-way near bus stops, sidewalks connected to public parking lots, the Booneville Corridor and Grant’s Traffic Circle.
Priorities for the program include commissioning “iconic site-specific sculptures” meaningful to C Street and interactive art that celebrates diversity.
“You can touch, learn, work that children can interact with, photo opportunities, dynamic and/or musical art.”
Directional Signs – $5,000
To “direct citizens and visitors from surrounding roads to C Street and public parking,” the city will install directional signs over the next few weeks.
“Once we get them right, we want to hear how they work,” Hough said in her request for stakeholder feedback.
Pedestrian Plaza Design – $15,000
In the beginning stages of planning, the city hopes to develop a schematic redesign of the pedestrian bridge plaza by summer and solicit feedback on the design.
Some of the benefits of the redesign include vehicle charging stations, lighting and sound systems, and material upgrades such as hard surfaces and landscaping.
“Does it matter to you guys to keep the exact number of parking spaces? Lose a parking space or two by adding a garden? Would you like to have a viewing platform… a pedestrian bridge? Let us know what you think , it will affect our design,” Hough said.
But hanging in the discussion to redesign the plaza is an indefinite postponement of repairs to the Jefferson Avenue pedestrian bridge, which has been closed since 2016.
Repairs were planned last year, but the building bid was more than double the city’s expected $3.2 million budget.
A stakeholder at Thursday’s meeting said there would be less value in redesigning the High Street plaza as long as the pedestrian bridge remains unusable.
“The pedestrian bridge isn’t highlighted. It’s not in your mind,” the resident told city workers. “We need to re-energize people’s base so we can see that bridge is fixed. The key to C-Street is the pedestrian bridge.”
Hoff acknowledged it was “a question of how far we can go without a pedestrian bridge,” but pointed to other improvements the city could make in the meantime.
Since the pedestrian bridge closed in 2016, the city has made several improvements to the railroad underpass in Lyon, Washington, and Grant to help improve safety and cleanliness, including increased lighting on the Washington Avenue underpass.
Public Works previously cleaned and inspected underpasses quarterly, but the cleaning schedule has been increased to monthly. Underpass cleaning includes flushing with water, picking up litter and checking lighting conditions.
“We are looking into the possibility of upgrading the lighting in the Grant Avenue underpass,” reads a city brochure about the pedestrian bridge.
The city is also researching materials and fencing options that may upgrade the bridge’s link fence closures. They also recently installed new signage at the base of the footbridge, using a “softer, friendlier look and containing more information about the bridge’s history”.
At its last meeting, the City Council applied for an $8 million Department of Transportation through Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program to rebuild America’s infrastructure and is looking into using funds from the recently approved federal infrastructure package Possibility to carry out repairs.
Surveys asking for feedback on these projects can be completed at tifprojects.questionpro.com.
