River District re-imagined
♦ A pedestrian-friendly screetscape proposal is pitched to business owners.
A conceptual plan for a River District streetscape is heavy on pedestrian-friendly design while at the same time adding more than 160 new parking spaces to the West Third Street and North Fifth Avenue corridors.
The design pitched to the community would include what consultant Bryan King referred to as a “road diet,” the narrowing of both streets to two lanes. That would allow for wider sidewalks with lots of landscaping, similar to Broad Street.
“I have been drooling over the River District for so long,” King said.
He used to work in the Rome-floyd County Planning office said he was “incredibly excited” to have his new firm, Goodwyn Mills Cawood, chosen to serve as consultants for the project.
During his presentation Tuesday night at the Courtyard Rome Riverwalk hotel, King said his conceptual plan was just a starting point for community involvement in the development of a final plan.
The consultant leaned heavily on information from a 2012 plan developed for Rome’s downtown area, another updated plan in 2018 and a Georgia Walks report on
Rome in 2019. Consistent themes in the different reports show a lot of interest in street trees, public art, improved crosswalks and the use of alleys in the district.
A traffic analysis of North Fifth Avenue done in March showed the street carried more than 6,000 vehicle trips per day and could easily be downsized to two-lane status. That would enhance the walkability of the River District, a longstated desire of city officials.
The plan even envisioned the possibility of reducing the Fifth Avenue Bridge to two lanes.
“We want to transform it from a way to get people out of downtown to a place where people are going,” King said. His plan attempts to balance a desire to get people out of their cars with the need for the remain functional for vehicular traffic.
The narrowing of both West Third Street and North Fifth Avenue would enable the sidewalks to be expanded to 15-feet in width. That in turn would create opportunities for landscaping which King said would have a dual impact of aesthetic improvements and a calming impact on traffic and pedestrian safety.
Voters approved $2 million for the project in the 2017 SPLOST package and the city received a $600,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant for improvements to utility services in the district.
Roy Echols, who owns five buildings and one lot of North Fifth, said he was impressed with the size of the crowd that turned out for the meeting.
“I thought they had some really good ideas and anything they do down there is going to help,” Echols said. “One of his ideas is to return the street to a brick surface like it was five or six decades ago. I think that would add not only to the aesthetic of it but they’re wanting to slow the traffic down and I think that would help.”
City Commissioner Randy Quick said he heard a number of positive comments on the widening of the sidewalks and addition of the trees to the landscape along with the ideas for a better use of the Fifth Avenue Bridge.
“We have received a great deal of very positive comments on our trail system and it’s exciting to see how the River District will promote some of our strongest quality of life components in the overall design.” Quick said.
Now they’re seeking community input, a crucial component before a
plan is put together, said Aundie Lesley, Rome’s new Downtown Development Director.
“We were happy with the input we
got. I think a lot of people, in order to social distance went home and we’re going to email the consultant ( with their comments),” Lesley said.