Nicole Underwood wrote “bike share station” onto a sticky note and placed it over a picture of Roosevelt Street between Third and Fourth streets, urging the community to place a covered bike station and water fountain in the area for local bicyclists.
Underwood, a Phoenix resident and director of operations at Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation, joined community members at the city of Phoenix Street Transportation Department and Ritoch-Powell & Associates meeting for community input on phase two of the Roosevelt Row Pedestrian Project at the Irish Cultural Center Thursday, a first for a Ritoch-Powell project.
“People like to know that the city cares about them,” Underwood said.
Community members made suggestions for protected bike lanes and angled parking, while new plans for Roosevelt Row were revealed, such as light-colored, geometric canopies.
“I think it’s really important to get community input, the types of features they would like to see,” said Mark Melnychenko, principal planner for the Transportation Department.
The input collected from attendees will be considered by Ritoch-Powell and the Transportation Department, within the constraints of their federal budget.
“It’s for the people; that’s why they have a lot of influence. But they have to remember that it’s based on a budget. It’s federally funded,” Ritoch-Powell president Karl Obergh said. “There’s not much you can do with $750,000.”
This was not your average meeting: no speeches were given and no hands were raised to ask questions or make suggestions. Instead of sitting in an audience, attendees were able to stand around a table covered in large printouts of the city’s previous and future projects and plans for Roosevelt Row.
“It’s not a really a meeting, but a ‘design charrette,’” Obergh said.
Sharpies and sticky notes were placed along the table so attendees could stick their suggestions and comments directly over the areas they were concerned with. Meanwhile, members of the Transportation Department and Ritoch-Powell stood around the table answering questions and conversing with members of the community.
“It’s an easy way to do it, a little more informal way,” Melnychenko said.
Phase one of the Roosevelt Row project is expected to begin construction April 2014 and end in July 2014. The final design plans for phase two are slated to be finished June 2014, allowing for construction to begin April 2015 and complete by November 2015.
