One-way streets part of DOT discussion Thursday

A presentation concerning traffic patterns and connectivity of Washington’s downtown streets is set for 6 p.m. Thursday in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building.

The presentation is being organized by the city and Washington Harbor District Alliance. It will be conducted by Joel Cranford, an engineer with the congestion management section of the N.C. Department of Transportation. Cranford is expected to discuss Main Street’s one-way traffic pattern and offer proposals to expand the appeal of the city’s waterfront into a downtown experience.

“The presentation is the result of WHDA’s Economic Restructuring Committee request of DOT to look at ways to improve traffic patterns and connectivity in our downtown streets as was suggested by the Washington Waterfront Visualization and Reinvestment Strategy,” reads an email from WHDA.

Beth Byrd, WHDA director, discussed the history behind the study leading to the presentation.

“They were indicating that they thought the one-way street was not beneficial for our Main Street,” Byrd said in a brief interview Tuesday. “So, the Economic Restructuring Committee contacted DOT, with Allen Lewis’ help č this is over a year ago. Of course, they have quite a backlog, so it took them quite a while to come down and look at our riverfront. When they did, their initial findings were that the one-way street … works really well for Main Street.”

DOT also looked at more than just Main Street, she said.

“They’re also going to report to us how we can improve the connectivity to the river, how we might be able to improve sidewalks and the traffic flow and how they connect downtown,” Byrd said.

“Just so that everyone’s on the same page, we wanted to do a presentation so that everyone knows this would be the best idea for downtown, basically what this strategy was indicating,” she said.

The strategy, adopted by the City Council in 2009, was developed by LandDesign after input was collected at several public input sessions. The strategy calls for creating a downtown harbor district that includes activity centers and districts along with a diversity of uses while maintaining the public’s access to the Pamlico River.

The plan calls for “investments” to improve the quality of life in Washington, with those investments being made by the public sector, the private sector and public-private partnerships.

Prominent components of the proposed strategy include a waterfront hotel, pavilions for public or private functions, small parks and green spaces and buildings for economic development uses such as restaurants, a museum, a ship’s store and similar retail uses. It also calls for a “festival park” just west of the N.C. Estuarium, a public pier and a gateway to the downtown-waterfront area where Main Street, Stewart Parkway and Gladden Street intersect.

The strategy addresses these key points:

• Finding ways to link Main Street to the Pamlico River.
• Public and private parking areas for expanded commercial activity.
• Create an opportunity for up to $90 million in new “tax-paying” construction and adaptive reuse of existing buildings.
• A premier space such as a performance venue for public use and assembly.
• Promote downtown as the city’s central business district.
• Develop a vehicle/pedestrian traffic circulation plan that connects people with various locations within the downtown/waterfront area.
• Establish a vision and reinvestment strategy that brands Washington’s downtown as a “central business district on the river.”

Discussion of one-way traffic patterns in the city’s downtown area and on-street parking methods is nothing new in Washington. Over the years as different economic development plans were put together, input gathering sessions for those plans included discourse about abolishing the one-way streets and implementing angled parking rather than parallel parking.