Laserfiche WebLink
The wide sidewalks allow for amenities such as seating, shade, bicycle racks, planter boxes, public art, and <br />trash receptacles without impacting pedestrian mobility. The bulbouts are specifically designed to shorten <br />pedestrian crossings at each intersection of the corridor, while heightening driver awareness at the western <br />end of Cle Elum's pedestrian-interactive downtown setting. <br />Slreel <br />The now auto-centric thoroughfare of First Street will be placed on a road diet. Driving lane widths will <br />be reduced to I I feet to promote speed calming through the corridor. Two driveway entrances between <br />Billings Avenue and Oakes Avenue and two between Oakes Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue will be <br />removed and allow for more diagonal parking at 30-degree desirable angles without adding more <br />impervious surfacing. Street lighting will be a blend of pedestrian-level and street lighting. Electrical <br />GFCI receptacles, incorporated into the light poles, will increase access to City planned downtown events <br />such as holiday lighting. Designing and constructing the street for a right-sized downtown feel and <br />dimension allows the City to better maintain the roadway and integrated infrastructure systems. <br />2. Explain how the infrastructure project will help meet the economic development goals of <br />your community and/or region. lf this project is not done, will the anticipated private <br />development still take place? <br />Although Phase 3 requires further project size dividing to match funding opportunities, construction of an <br />expanded Phase 3,4 completes both sides of First Street between Billings and Oakes, as well as the north <br />side of First Street between Oakes and Pennsylvania, completing approximately 25% of all improvements <br />as planned for in the Downtown Revitalization Plan. With completion of streetscape improvements, the <br />City's residents and businesses will witness implementation of the expressed downtown vision of <br />stakeholdErs on one-and-a-half blocks prepared for immediate economic development opportunities. <br />By planning the proposed streetscape improvements in the subphase manner, necessary interruptions to <br />local transportation, commerce, and day-to-day operations on each block of First Street will be limited to <br />one occasion, placing Cle Elum in a positive light with existing and prospective businesses not only on that <br />block, but throughout the conidor. Separately, project elements in Phase l, Phase 2, andPhase 3 addressed <br />infrastructure issues that are linked to economic development. When considered together, the Phase 3A <br />streetscape improvements project is undeniably well aligned with the purpose of the Distressed County <br />Sales and Use Tax Infrastructure Improvement Program. <br />Though all Phase 3 streetscape improvements have been completed at the easternmost and westernmost <br />intersections and along a single block only, the City is already experiencing redevelopment and <br />reinvestment along First Street, In 2019 and 2020, the City saw seventeen new businesses, seventeen <br />building sales, one infill projecto one redevelopment, and four aesthetic improvement projects for local <br />businesses. Several businesses have experienced record sales each month since the start of the pandemic, <br />but even prior to COVID-19, the entire Upper Kittitas County was experiencing record tourism Thursdays <br />through Mondays, primarily from the Seattle metropolitan area. As a result of the tourist-generated <br />transportation gridlock, the County has initiated a coalition to work with WSDOT and other stakeholders <br />to accelerate the 6-laning of I-90 from Snoqualmie Pass all the way to Cle Elum. This Downtown <br />Revitalization, with an emphasis on a safe and walkable streetscape will bolster Cle Elum's already thriving <br />tourist economy, enticing marry of the 30,000 vehicles that pass Cle Elum every day to stop and spend <br />money at local businesses. <br />However, it is not just tourists or Cle Elum's population of 2,000 that will benefit. A flourishing downtown <br />will also positively reach all of Upper Kittitas County's 5,000 residents as Cle Elum's "downtown" is <br />considered the Upper Kittitas County downtown. With very limited commerce oppoftunities in the <br />neighboring communities of South Cle Elum, Roslyn, Ronald, and Suncadia, Cle Elum's regionally <br />5