The Downtown Coordinating Committee voted unanimously to incorporate aspects of the State Street Redesign Project into the Johnson Street Project slated for spring 2003 at a meeting Thursday.
The federally funded Johnson Street Project will revamp Johnson Street from Campus Drive to a block west of State Street.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the recommendation would save money as well as encourage confidence in the design project.
“This recommendation will convince the engineers that major aspects of the State Street design project are agreed upon,” he said.
The first phase of construction would include the 100-200 blocks of State Street, the Overture Foundation, Mifflin Street, Carroll Park and possibly Concrete Park. The initial cost would be approximately $7 million.
Existing funds include $1 million from the Federal Highway Administration earmark (FHWA), $522,000 from the Federal Transit Administration Grant, and $430,000 in City of Madison funds borrowed in prior years.
Verveer said the FHWA’s $1 million must be allocated by Sept. 30, 2002, to ensure its availability.
Pressure is mounting to move forward with the project after the City Council moved to delay renovation plans to consider when and if the project will continue.
Verveer said the council will vote on the design project again March 19.
“I am optimistic that I can convince my colleagues to move forward,” Verveer said. “If we don’t move forward soon, we’ll be too late.”
Bill Fruhling from the Madison Department of Planning and Development presented a tree health assessment of State Street blocks 100 and 200. Ranger Services and Laura Jull, assistant professor and extension specialist of the Department of Horticulture at UW-Madison, conducted the study.
The study assessed the likelihood of the trees’ reconstruction survival and recommended ideal replacement trees. Of the 80 trees studied, 78 were in various stages of decline.
The study said without any reconstruction, over 50 percent of the trees would require removal within the next five to 10 years, with 100 percent replacement required within 15 years.
“The potential of the survival of current trees if the State Street plan is constructed is zero,” Fruhling said. “The reconstruction is too widespread, in-depth and large in scale to expect any tree survival beyond one to three years.” Additionally, the cost of saving the trees in the design plan is estimated at $1,000 to $1,200 per tree, which exceeds their appraised values.
Aspects of the existing State Street Design Plan include lengthening the sidewalk, allowing pedestrians to cross in less time, and placing uniform lights and signs throughout State Street and surrounding side streets. The committee’s goal is to create a “district atmosphere” in the blocks surrounding State Street. Affected side streets include Carroll, Dayton, Mifflin, Fairchild, Johnson, Henry, Gorham, Broom, Gilman, Lake and University.
Committee member Zach Brandon said State Street should be the central part of the city.
“We want to revitalize the downtown scene,” Brandon said. “There should be a gravitational pull towards State Street.”
