4 Lessons from a Temporary Street Redesign Process

A cafe in Lawrence has installed seating, lights, umbrellas and tables in their temporarily expanded space in the street. (Source: Gould Evans)

As towns and cities across the country grapple with how to keep businesses operating under pandemic conditions, many are looking for ways to increase outside space for retail and dining.  That often means temporarily redesigning streets to reallocate more room for chairs, tables, and retail racks. And it’s not just happening in the big urban areas that are getting lots of attention like New York or Oakland.

In Lawrence, KS, a small city home to the University of Kansas, local business owners, leaders and residents were worried about the pandemic’s impact on their downtown—normally a hub of people walking and patronizing stores.  “There was a lot of concern about how they would be able to reopen the businesses in a way that would make people feel encouraged to visit the downtown and feel safe,” says Abby Kinney, an urban designer at the planning firm Gould Evans, which has an office in Lawrence.

So, a few months ago, the city’s downtown business association, Downtown Lawrence Incorporated, partnered with Gould Evans to come up with an approach to helping businesses open safely.  According to Kinney, this process began with simple proposals to create wayfinding signage and set up hand sanitizer dispensers.  But as they were working through these ideas, the “open streets” concept was gaining traction around the country.

Downtown Lawrence is full of angled parking spaces, so Gould Evans proposed turning these into parallel parking spots, then using the extra space for outside retail, walking and other people-focused uses.  After getting buy-in from local businesses, Gould Evans and Downtown Lawrence Incorporated worked with city leadership to also consult with municipal departments like police, fire and public works—all of which had their own potential concerns about things like access and space that needed to be addressed as part of this street redesign process.  

Kinney notes that it was valuable to have a “strong” city manager who could move people to swift action through a process that would normally take months to be approved by all the necessary parties.  But it was also important that the street redesign occur through temporary measures like moveable barricades, cones and planters rather than permanent changes like pouring concrete to shift the location of the sidewalk.  This way, the design could be reevaluated and adjusted if residents, business owners or others raised concerns about the approach.  

Image Source: Gould Evans

One concern that came up during the street redesign process involved parking.  Gould Evans’ response was to create wayfinding signs that would direct people coming into the Lawrence downtown toward the over 150 public parking spots in the downtown corridor.

That’s a valuable lesson for others who may want to make street adjustments—whether to create space for outdoor dining, bike lanes, or something else: While you might see an abundance of parking and be frustrated by those who raise parking concerns, sometimes small gestures like showing people that there actually is considerable parking can assuage worries.

The temporary nature of this street redesign has allowed the city and Downtown Lawrence Incorporated to shift course as some businesses requested a return to the former angled parking arrangement outside their building due to a lack of use of the outside space and concerns about decreased walking space. Other businesses—restaurants and bars in particular—are fully utilizing their additional outside seating areas and more food businesses are joining their numbers. 

What can we take away from this short exploration in expanded street space in Lawrence, Kansas?

1. Act fast. The pandemic is nothing short of an emergency for local businesses and those with the power to make it easier for businesses to operate should take swift action.

2. Be flexible. When making changes to street design, take a flexible approach by installing temporary bump-outs, lane divisions, etc. rather than making permanent changes that can’t be adjusted.

3. Build in time and space for reassessment.  In Lawrence, the city planned for reviews of the street redesign after a month of use and crafted their street regulations with an automatic expiration date of October 31, unless an extension was agreed upon.

4. Check in regularly with the people involved. Downtown Lawrence Incorporated has been in regular contact with as many local business owners as possible throughout this process, getting feedback as changes were proposed and applied.  Further efforts could also be made to ask Lawrence residents for their opinions on the street changes.

We’ll be checking back in with Lawrence at the end of the summer to see the impact of this street redesign process and to consider how it may have adapted over time.

Editor’s Note: You can read the follow-up article here.

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