After years of debate in city committees, the State Street Redesign Project is up for review by the City Council tonight.
The project proposal comes before the Council after the Downtown Coordinating Committee — the final committee to review the plan — approved recommendations for the project last week.
The approval process was briefly delayed in February after Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2, led an action to stop the Council from soliciting design proposals from outside design firms. But Konkel said she would vote to adopt the plan tonight.
“I’m feeling a lot more comfortable (with the plan) than the first time because it is more clear on what we are voting on,” Konkel said. “It is clear what phase one is and what it will do.”
Konkel said she still has reservations about spending millions of dollars on the State Street Redesign Project when the state faces a budget crisis. However, she noted that the process provides future opportunities for city officials to re-evaluate the plan.
“Thirty-two million dollars is still a lot of money, but a slower process is better,” she said.
If the plan passes tonight, city officials will continue working on the remodeling effort to ensure the $901,000 worth of secured federal funds is spent by the Sept. 30 deadline. If the money is not spent, Congress could re-distribute the funds.
In the project’s latest development, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, and Mayor Sue Bauman modified a project resolution to include support for a study to determine whether removing buses from the 100 and 200 blocks of State Street would be effective. Verveer said city officials would likely be able to complete the study within a few weeks, therefore not jeopardizing the project’s timeline.
“There is a renewed interest among city officials to remove the buses,” Verveer said. “I am very optimistic that one day we will be able to remove them.”
Ald. Todd Jarrell, District 8, said he thinks the plan will pass easily in the Council.
“At this point, we are only committing money that we have,” Jarrell said.
Ald. Linda Bellman, District 1, said she supports the design plan and said that the timing of the project, and its coordination with the Overture Project, set to open in 2003, is important.
“I think we have a commitment to the Overture to start the initial phase,” Bellman said.
The Council meets tonight at 6:30 in room 201 of the City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Dr.
