Phoenix city officials and community members further discussed making Adams Street between Second Street and Central Avenue more pedestrian-friendly at planning meetings Monday and Tuesday in the Phoenix Convention Center.
Phoenix consulted with architectural firm Gensler to gather community feedback for the Adams Street Activation Study. Gensler employees will draft a final report to present to the Phoenix City Council.
Some community members made it clear that they do not want Adams Street to become a pedestrian mall because they were unsure if the idea would work.
Downtown resident and member of the Downtown Voices Coalition Jeff Sherman said he went to the first meeting to make sure plans to create a pedestrian mall would not happen. Sherman and others contributed many suggestions to try and make the activation zone on Adams more inviting and aesthetically pleasing without making a walkway.
“I’m interested in seeing the area become more vibrant,” Sherman said.
Gensler took community members’ interests from the first planning meetings and put them into broader themes, said Eric Johnson, the economic development program manager.
The themes were used by Gensler to create conceptual images of Adams Street that showed vast change to the face of the street.
A structure shown in the images that was about four stories directly above the street and spanning the length of Adams Street from Central Avenue to Second Street was to provide shade for pedestrians.
On First Street, a stage with a band is set up and the street is closed for a hypothetical event.
(Alexandra Scoville/DD)
Sidewalks lined with trees had more room for retail stores, coffee shops, restaurants and even a mixed-used building on Central Avenue currently occupied by a vacant lot.
The images are only conceptual, and budget restrictions and modifications to the activation plans could prevent extravagant designs from being implemented.
The meeting attendees grouped together to present proposals on what to keep and what to discard from the conceptual images. The groups also presented ideas for potential businesses to bring in by issuing RFTs (Request for Tender).
Johnson frequently mentioned keeping the selections possible in terms of cost and method of implementation, so the groups had to decide what changes were most practical for each area on Adams Street.
Group members were diverse in demographic and interest. All appeared to want Adams Street to be more pedestrian-friendly for both Phoenix residents and visitors.
Based on the groups’ selections, Gensler will put together a final report to present to City Council in early October.
“We are going to create a place that is, in fact, a destination,” said Beth Harmon-Vaughan, a consultant with Gensler.
Contact the reporter at jjprice2@asu.edu
