Wichita’s primary downtown business street could soon get narrower due to council act
The Wichita City Council took the first step toward reducing traffic lanes on downtown’s primary business street with an eye toward creating a more bikeable and fun Douglas Avenue.
The vote was 6-1 with Mayor Jeff Longwell opposed, after he expressed concern that skinnying down Douglas has been tried before and would clog traffic.
The current plan would squeeze the existing five car lanes down to three, resulting in two through lanes and a turn lane for autos.
The second traffic lanes on both sides of the street would become parking lanes and the current parking lanes along the curb would be set aside for paths for bicycles and electric scooters.
The plan was developed by Nelson Nygard, a San Francisco consulting company hired by the city to recommend ways to make downtown safer, more prosperous and more inviting for walking and biking.
On Tuesday, the council accepted a $25,000 grant from the Knight Fund administered by the Wichita Community Foundation.
That’s planned as the first round of funding of a $75,000 pilot project that would use paint and plastic barriers to temporarily close off traffic lanes. If the experiment is deemed a success, more permanent traffic lane controls would be put in place.
The plan apparently has strong support from bike enthusiasts and some businesses along Douglas, who see slowing traffic as a way of getting more people out of cars and patronizing their shops, restaurants and bars.
Speaking in favor of the plan was Rick Sroufe of Bike Walk Wichita. He said it would be “the height of political capitulation” not to at least test the concept.
“The purpose of the Douglas redesign is to enhance the vibrancy and economic vitality of the Douglas area, not to speed traffic as fast as possible,” he said. “All the consultants’ reports the city’s engaged have concluded that the proposed design is the best one to accomplish this.”
Longwell said the council shouldn’t accept the money until it has a better idea of where the rest will come from and a firmer plan for the street itself.
“Call me a skeptic. I’ve lived here long enough that we’ve gone through numerous renditions of Douglas getting wider and narrower and wider and narrower and now we’re back to narrowing Douglas,” he said. “I struggle with what we’re trying to achieve turning it back into three lanes and encouraging more congestion along that corridor.”
Longwell won’t be around when the pilot project comes to fruition, which is scheduled for next spring. He lost last week’s election to state Rep. Brandon Whipple and will leave the council in January.
Whipple, who was in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting, said he wants to get more public input before taking a stand on the project.
While bicycle riders and business owners have been well represented in the public engagement process so far, Whipple said he also wants to hear more from people who have to drive to work downtown.
“We need to make sure we get input from everyone,” he said.
That could be accomplished through social media outreach, because many downtown workers can’t leave their jobs during the day to go to a traffic meeting, he said.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 2:15 PM.
