City officials plan downtown improvements

Oct 29 2009 - 12:04am | Megan Holt

Sara Strick/Star photo

The possibility of two-way roads could be in store for downtown, according to a city official.

Steve Guajardo, San Marcos project manager, discussed plans for improved roads, sidewalks and a reduced speed limit with the Downtown Association and local residents Wednesday evening.

“Construction (downtown), regardless of one or two-way streets, is still a year out,” Guajardo said. “We’re looking at a year to two before a final decision is made.”

City Council will consider possible street changes as part of the Downtown Master Plan.

“I would say they (the street changes) are in the preliminary stage of the process,” said Scott Booth, traffic engineer for Broaddus & Associates, a project management and planning firm.

“We are at a point in time where we are presenting to the citizens (of San Marcos) for comments, suggestions and improvements to the plan before it’s carried out,” Booth said.

Mary Mazzei, senior project manager for Broaddus & Associates, said the downtown development plan was implemented with drainage and street improvements.

“I wouldn’t mind two-way streets,” said Joe Garza, downtown business owner. “Cars go the wrong way all the time. I have to look both ways crossing a one-way street anyway.”

Booth said city officials asked him to ensure traffic would evenly flow on one or two-way streets if landscapes are added and speed limits are reduced.

“One of the things that came to mind (when planning downtown improvements) was bike-lanes. We decided that would be dangerous,” said Wayne Cooper, vice-president of planning for Broaddus & Associates. “We are now looking at the possibility of bicycles sharing the road with vehicles. A slower traffic flow would make (cyclists) feel more comfortable.”

Valerie Fix, Wayback Attic owner, said she believes the city did not plan for bikes.

“They want to hopefully slow down traffic to hopefully integrate bikes,” Fix said. “I understand limited space, but we have hundreds of people who ride bikes every day. Bikes will still be on the road with cars that are not attentive to riders.”

Cooper said slowing traffic would improve parking complications because drivers would be aware of cars backing out of spaces.

Two downtown parking plans were proposed to help alleviate traffic congestion — parallel parking or 45-degree-angle spaces.

Cooper said parallel parking would allow wider sidewalks.

“It’s a question of which is more important — parking or more room for pedestrians?” Cooper asked.

Expanded sidewalks would include room for new trees, benches and trashcans.

“Enhanced paving at intersections was also looked at,” Cooper said. “We looked at how pedestrians used the pavements as a way of finding or place making.”

Cooper said textured sidewalks and place markers, such as an image of a stallion in the pavement of an intersection, could help business owners or pedestrians give directions.

“There’s a lot of factors that went into planning,” Cooper said. “We have to look at how changes to the streets could be implemented to maintain a pedestrian friendly, human-scaled plan.”

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