Council Takes First Step Towards Creating Safer, Prettier Downtown
The Brevard City Council on Monday approved a phase of its Downtown Master Plan that will bring replanting and sidewalk improvements to two blocks of Main Street and the Times Arcade Alley.
BREVARD — The Brevard City Council voted Monday to move ahead with the first phase of the Downtown Master Plan it approved last year — and the first realization of this document’s goal of making the shopping district leafier and more welcoming to pedestrians.
The project will focus on upgrades to two blocks of Main Street as well as the adjacent and flood-prone Times Arcade Alley, where the city will use previously secured federal funds to improve stormwater drainage. The work will also include a shaded “parklet” at the alley’s entrance to Main.
The work must be done quickly, said city staffers and a consultant, to beat the state Department of Transportation’s resurfacing of Main Street planned for next summer.
“We want to be ahead of that process . . . because if you get behind it you're going to have this nice fresh asphalt that’s down and you're going to have to cut it out and redo it,” Jay Martin, of Greenville-based Arbor Land Design, told Council.
“It’s absolutely necessary not to undo those things that were just done.”
The total cost of the project is expected to be $880,000, most of it from a fund dedicated to Master Plan improvements and accumulated from city property taxes. The exact cost will not be known until the work is put out to bid, and the plan includes options — such as a choice of less-expensive paving surfaces — to hopefully allow it to meet this budget.
During his presentation at Monday’s meeting, Martin explained how his company’s plan attempts to meet several goals, including improving access to parking and setting aside loading zones needed to deliver goods to nearby businesses.
These must be balanced with other aims, such as beautifying sidewalks with, for example, strips of brick paving, and promoting safety for walkers and increasing space to grow healthy trees.
One of the main features of the work will be so-called bump-outs, curb extensions at the intersection of Main and Broad streets and in the middle of the two blocks.
At the intersection, these extensions will provide islands for pedestrians “that kind of deliver them out beyond the parked cars” for better visibility, Martin said.
To illustrate the benefits of bump-outs to landscaping, Martin displayed a photo of two lines of trees. One row had been planted in cramped spaces and appeared small and unhealthy, much like the ones currently in downtown.
“The ones that are there now have that stunted look, like ‘I can’t do any more,’ ” he said.
The bigger, healthier trees in the other row, meanwhile, benefited from bigger areas such as those that will be created by the bump-outs.
“They have a larger space to grow, breathe and do the tree thing,” Martin said.
Council member Mac Morrow, looking at the plan, counted a total of 14 trees that would be removed and 22 that would be planted. Some of the trees slated for removal are notoriously fragile and invasive Bradford pears.
“But all of our trees are reaching the end of their productive life,” Mayor Maureen Copelof said after the meeting. “I’m so happy that we’re getting the new trees.”
Morrow and other Council members voted unanimously to approve the project, though Council member Geraldine Dinkins questioned the choice of new trees, which include magnolias and American lindens. Partly, these options were picked in an effort to use native species, and such trees have thrived in other Arbor projects, another company representative said.
Council member Aaron Baker said he knew bicycle lanes were anticipated in other parts of the Master Plan, and asked if any amenities for cyclists were included. Not in this project, he was told.
Though the work approved Monday will realize just a small part of the total plan, it was also designed to set a template that can be used throughout the district, Martin said.
“We wanted to come up with something, and I believe we have, that brings everything together, that is replicable from block to block to block.”
“This is the start of executing the whole plan over the next few years,” Copelof said.
I’ve spent considerable time in Mexico where every town has a plaza for people to congregate, relax and a place for children to play safely. A place like this in Brevard would encourage people to spend more time downtown. Blocking off Main St between Caldwell and Broad would provide a space for this and show that we value people over cars.