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Page 4 <br />Housing & Redevelopment Authority <br />May 1, 2006 <br />Commissioner Morin questioned if there was any alternative to leaving at least one lane, one <br />direction of Main Street open. Mr. Clark indicated that staff reviewed many alternatives and <br />with the amount of construction taking place downtown, staff felt that temporarily rerouting <br />all the traffic on a portion of Main Street would be the best for public safety. <br />Chair Wilson asked if Main Street could be closed during construction but reopened when <br />construction was not going on such as evenings and weekends. Mr. Clark indicated that staff <br />felt that for public safety and liability reasons it would be best to treat the entire area as a <br />construction zone and reopening Main Street during non -construction hours would <br />compromise this. <br />Commissioner Motin questioned if the removal of the four parking stalls in front of the park <br />could be delayed until Main Street is reopened. Ms. Mehelich indicated that it is unsafe to <br />back into an intersection and the situation will get worse with the added construction traffic. <br />Mr. Maurer noted that the removal of the parking stalls is necessary prior to commencement <br />of the park project to allow the construction traffic for the park access to the site. <br />Commissioner Motin questioned what the signage on Main Street would read. Mr. Maurer <br />indicated that typical signing would be used to direct traffic and that signage would be used <br />indicating that once they pass King Avenue they are entering a construction zone and <br />parking lot only with no access out of downtown. <br />Commissioner Lieser questioned if once Main Street is closed, if the entire area will be <br />fenced. Mr. Maurer indicated that it is his understanding that the contractor for The Bank <br />and the Bluff projects will coordinate together to fence off the entire site. He noted that this <br />is an additional reason that Main Street could not be reopened during non -construction <br />hours. <br />Wendy Simenson, Kemper Drug — stated that she has concerns that traffic will not be able <br />to get to them. Ms. Simonson indicated that Mother's Day is coming up and extra <br />merchandise has been ordered for the occasion and she would like to have been given more <br />notice and would like to see the closure postponed to allow businesses to prepare. <br />Fred McCoy, McCoy's Pub — indicated that he is concerned if there is adequate room to <br />close one lane of traffic on Jackson and still have one lane open and parking along the side. <br />Mr. Maurer stated that with the closure of the Northbound lane, there is adequate room to <br />have one lane of traffic keeping the current parking stalls and allowing ample room for <br />vehicles to back out of the stalls. <br />Mr. McCoy stated that he counted ten parking stalls between the Cinema and the <br />construction fencing after the four stalls in front of the park are removed and he questioned <br />if the head -in parking will create additional parking stalls. Mr. Maurer indicated that to his <br />knowledge, there have not been discussions regarding the size of the head -in parking stalls. <br />He stated that they would be made as small as eight and one-half feet wide rather than the <br />conventional nine -feet to squeeze more spaces in but that may not be comfortable for <br />vehicles to maneuver in. <br />Mr. McCoy also questioned if the HRA believes there will be adequate parking to support <br />20,000 square feet of retail space as well as the existing businesses. He stated that in addition <br />to the businesses downtown, parking spaces will be required for residents and guests as well <br />as park visitors. Chair Wilson explained that the whole idea of the downtown revitalization is <br />to have the downtown businesses flourish and he believes that the parking issues have been <br />