A nonprofit advocating for the Hilltop area in Davenport is proposing changes to some streets to make the area more pedestrian and bike friendly.
The Hilltop area is made up of walkable higher education campuses bisected by some of the city’s busiest streets.
Leaders in the area are proposing to connect those areas with more pedestrian and bike friendly infrastructure as part of an in-progress master plan.
The Hilltop Campus Village, a nonprofit, hired Streamline Architects to make a master plan with public feedback that the Village and leaders can use as a roadmap for future improvements and as a tool to attract private and public investment in the Hilltop.
The goals of the master plan, principal architect at Streamline and HCV board vice president Andrew Dasso told the Davenport City Council this week, is to improve lighting and make intersections safer; make access easier between campuses, businesses and residences; and offer outdoor event spaces and signage to identify the Hilltop as its own neighborhood.
“Connectivity is really a struggle for the Hilltop because of how large we are,” Dasso said, adding that other Main Street Iowa programs are handling smaller areas.
Streamline Architects did an online survey and held public input sessions with residents, visitors, business owners, students and employees of the Hilltop area.
Data on crashes show the most heavily trafficked streets — Harrison, Brady and Locust — were responsible for the majority of crashes, especially around intersections.
The intersections along Locust Street at Harrison and Brady were seen as particularly unsafe.
“Something that came up a lot in our charrettes was that St. Ambrose students did not feel safe crossing Locust,” said Noah Strausser, project manager for Streamline. “They did not interact with the businesses south of Locust, and so connecting those was seen as a priority.”
Streamline Architects proposed recommending interventions that slow traffic and that increase awareness of pedestrians at those intersections.
One such intervention is called a “bulb-out,” which extends pedestrian areas by about the width of a parallel parking lane at the corners of an intersection with paint and bollards or planters. The zones reduce the distance across the street for pedestrians to cross. They can also be made permanent with concrete.
That’s what the architects are proposing for the intersection at Locust and Harrison, which is near the St. Ambrose campus, several businesses, and the Davenport schools’ J.B. Young complex.
The vision, proposed by Streamline Architects, is to add bulb-outs at the Harrison and Locust intersection corners and make Harrison Street’s west lane a dedicated turning lane, which would reduce Harrison to three lanes further north than it’s current configuration.
“Currently Harrison is three lanes like a block or so south of Locust, but we’re proposing bringing that up to Locust which enables this distance and this distance to become a bit shorter for pedestrians to cross, hopefully making this connection easier” Strausser said, pointing at the intersection.
Other improvements recommended include a median separating directions of traffic on the west side of the entrance to the intersection of Harrison and Locust. A median exists already on Locust Street to separate directions of traffic on the east entrance to the intersection.
When presenting bulb-outs at the intersection, the public feedback was positive for slowing traffic and making crossings safer, but some expressed concern that the bulb-outs would require constant maintenance of paint and bollards to maintain vibrancy and impact.
At the intersection of Harrison and 16th Street, which is near businesses such as Brewed Book, Celebrity’s Beauty Supply and Rocks Anchor Grill, the architects recommend adding new pedestrian bulb-outs, too.
The bulb-outs, the architects propose, could extend into the parking lane of Harrison Street, be painted in Hilltop-branded purple and orange, and protected by concrete planter boxes and bollards. It also recommends painting the pavement of 16th Street where parking currently is and make it an attractive street to close off for community events. An arch could also further define the area, the architects said.
Public feedback was mixed on the gateway arch and painted pavement with some expressing support for the arch and some expressing concern that the 16th Street crossing at Harrison is already tight for turning from Harrison Street.
Architects also proposed changes to Main Street, including reducing the lanes to 10 feet wide to reduce traffic speeds and adding a 6-foot bike lane with painted lines separated from traffic by a parking lane. The plan would retain parallel parking on both sides of Main Street.
Feedback was favorable for a bike lane, but some expressed concern that there was only one proposed bike lane, rather than two to allow cyclists to bike safely in both directions.
The architects also proposed an alternate walking and biking path be created in the alleyway between Harrison and Ripley to better connect St. Ambrose with the Hilltop, which could be pedestrianized with lighting, painted pavement, murals, bollards and decorative fencing, planters, and benches. Lighting could also be added along Scott, 16th and 15th streets to encourage pedestrians traveling from St. Ambrose or the residential neighborhoods in the Gaines Street corridor.
There are also several vacant lots along the alleyway, the architects noted, that could be developed for other uses with more foot traffic.
Signage at key entrances to the Hilltop, such as the foot of Brady Street hill or Locust and Harrison streets would add to placemaking so visitors recognized the Hilltop. Signs with Hilltop coloring with directions to parking, Palmer College, St. Ambrose and other landmarks of the Hilltop could also be beneficial to visitors, the architects said.
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Sarah Watson
Davenport, Scott County, local politics
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