Work will soon be getting underway on a downtown beautification project along Florida and Lafayette streets. The project, which is part of the Downtown Development District’s Riverfront Gateway Initiative, will have several components.
Along Florida Street, so-called bump outs will be constructed from Fourth Street to River Road. Bumps outs are curb extensions that are landscaped and may include sitting areas. See a rendering of the bump outs.
Meanwhile, trees will be planted along Lafayette Street from the IBM facility to the Hilton Capitol Center. A related aspect of the initiative will involve constructing screens to partially obscure the surface parking lots along Florida Street, the largest of which is at the intersection of Florida and River Road.
DDD Executive Director Davis Rhorer says design work for the screens has not yet been done but there are several possibilities. Take a look at some prototypes used in other cities.
“These streets lead up to a grand finale, the end of the downtown greenway,” Rhorer says. “This is where pedestrians and bicycles will go to the levee, and there is no other space downtown like this so I want that streetscape experience to be a great one.”
Rhorer says the parking lot screens will be constructed on public, not private, property so the DDD does not need to get permission of the landowners. The projects altogether will cost around $300,000, money that was previously approved by the Metro Council as part of the Riverfront Master Plan.
A contract for the bump outs and tree planting will got out to bid later this month. The parking lots screens are still in the design phase and will got out to bid sometime in March. —Stephanie Riegel
