Mind the Gap

What is the best wasy to "close the loop" in the downtown skyway system?

Decisions regarding transportation are often determined by ease and simplicity (read: efficiency).  The problem with efficiency is that it can exist at the expense of design.  When it comes to the downtown skyway and subway system, the decisions of routing have been made by businesses and the City in the interest of efficiency.  However, it is important to remember that skyways have an impact on the activity of the street and the overall aesthetic perception of residents and visitors.  Wouldn't it be better to create a skyway system that served the needs of its users but did not sacrifice the feel of streets and architecture? 

Whether you agree with the decision or not, the downtown skyway is expected to cross Broadway south of 2nd Street.  This is intended to "close the loop" that exists surrounding the downtown core.  Currently, it is planned to cross Broadway on the 300 block from the new City Center building through the former Paine Furniture store building or a new building in its place.  This would continue into the new UMR residence hall project and finally to the new expansion to the ramp connected to the Bio Business Center.

This would impact the buildings on either side of Broadway that have some vestige of historical architectural character and, because of the scale of the buildings, dominate the streetscape.  This is the most efficient route, but shouldn't we mind the gap?

Another option: The skyway system currently dead ends in the Holiday Inn building on the east side of Broadway.  This section will connect to the City Center building in the next year.  The reason for having the skyway in a hotel makes sense for the tourism industry and for the convenience of patients accessing Mayo facilities.  On the west side of Broadway is another hotel, Hilton Garden Inn, which also has a dead end section of skyway for the same reasons as mentioned above.  Wouldn't these two businesses prefer to close the loop to increase traffic through their hotels and to provide a quicker and more convenient access to downtown buildings?  These two buildings are also more than 6 stories tall which makes a skyway connection more in scale with the street.  They are also relatively devoid of architectural character and definitely nothing of any significance. 

As is true in real estate, the more expected a project becomes, the more expensive it can become to realize.  Closing the loop across Broadway on the 300 block requires a new building owner to front a 1/4 of the cost of a new skyway in addition to purchasing the Paine Furniture building and any renovations or complete redevelopment.  That makes a already high priced piece of real estate even more cost prohibitive.  In contrast, the 200 block has two established businesses with existing skyway legs and would only require they front 1/4 of the cost of a new skyway to increase the vitality, viability and accessibility of their respective businesses. 

As downtown continues to develop, keep an eye out for future skyway connections, building developments in-line with the Urban Village design guidelines, and recommendations that emerge from the downtown master planning process.  Then compare the reality to what was proposed and critically analyze how our City is doing when it comes to urban design decisions.

k-MART reTHINK

Existing site with context

Conceptual site plan with context

Conceptual site plan
(click on image to enlarge)

What if K-Mart went out of business and the land was given back to the neighborhood?

The K-Mart site that occupies the southernmost boundary of Rochester’s downtown master plan is currently underdeveloped and underutilized.  The corner of 9^th Street SE and 3^rd Avenue SE has all the pedestrian scale and character of an airport parking lot.  The corner of Broadway and 9^th Street SE is more well known for the Liberty Tax guy who stands and waves at motorists or for the large bison that sometimes rests next to the Snappy Stop.  Meanwhile, across these streets lives a wonderful green space, park and connection to the City trail system as well as dense downtown core neighborhoods.  This site needs more than a good scrubbing and up-grade as the Miracle Mile strip mall underwent in 2008; it needs a complete re-think of what uses would be desired, what density can be sustained, and what pedestrian amenities should be considered. 

With a complete re-think of the site that stretches from Broadway to 3^rd Avenue and from 9^th Street to the edge of the AMPI plant—nearly 15 acres, almost 70% of which is parking lot—redevelopment could occur that stimulates economic growth and increased population density.  It seems as though developers would beg to get their hands on this piece of property, but the citizens of Rochester should expect to get something in return.  Here is the plan:

• Begin by imposing the abandoned city grid over the site.  This immediately illustrates the amount of space that is currently occupied by parking and drive aisles. 
• Once the block pattern is established, nicely landscaped complete streets with ample on-street parking attract street level activity and outdoor gathering spaces.
• On the blocks themselves, compact, multi-use, multi-story structures can provide commercial uses at grade with multi-family residential units filling the upper floors. 
• The existing K-Mart structure is retained and adaptively reused to become either a downtown grocery store, or several retail stores.  The back side of the store could be repurposed for loading if it continues to be a larger, single occupant store. 
• Along the north edge of the site, a greenway connection from the river to the neighborhood is established.  Without this artery, pedestrians are restricted from walking or biking directly from the nearby neighborhood to the riverfront. 
• Along Broadway, the strip mall that stretches along the railroad right-of-way could be vacated and all of those businesses could be spread across a number of other locations closer to the neighborhood that would be more likely to frequent them.  The vacated structure could then become a multi-  modal downtown transit hub.  Situated on the rail line and having bus, vehicular and bicycle traffic along Broadway, this location could provide much easier access from outlying areas to downtown and from downtown residences to other services accessed through mass-transit routes.  This transit hub could also serve as the trail head with a connection across Broadway at the 9^th Street intersection.

Overall, the site is more walkable, diverse, pleasant, and vibrant.  If the University of Minnesota Rochester campus settles across Broadway in the Urban Village, that puts this piece of property strategically located at the center of downtown residences and businesses.  Without a comprehensive vision for what this site could be uses for in the future, a private developer could create more piecemeal, fractured structures with little pedestrian access and domination by the personal vehicle.  Let us think about this…

…and let’s make the right decision.