Congress Avenue transformation plan gets support from Urban Transportation Commission

The Urban Transportation Commission has voted to support the proposed transformation of most of the downtown portion of Congress Avenue, turning much of the street into a pedestrian- and multimodal-focused corridor and removing almost all vehicular traffic. The recommendation to City Council was approved at the commission’s meeting earlier this week.

The Congress Avenue Urban Design Initiative (CAUDI) reimagines Congress Avenue from Cesar Chavez Street to 11th Street, with a public plaza between Seventh and 11th streets and enhancements for bike lanes, sidewalks and public spaces south of Seventh Street. If approved by City Council, the $130 million plan would be completed in phases beginning with two blocks between Seventh and 11th streets using $22 million in funding available from the 2020 mobility bond.

That budget allows for focusing on the 900 and 1000 blocks for full reconstruction and tactical enhancements on the 700 and 800 blocks. Laura Dierenfield, manager of the active transportation and street design division, told the commission the Transportation and Public Works Department plans to use an incremental approach, utilizing nimble contracting methods to address sections of the avenue while minimizing disruption.

Approximately 94 parking spaces, or 0.27 percent of downtown’s total parking supply, would be disrupted by the changes. Dierenfield said accessible parking spaces could be relocated near intersections on cross streets to meet federal standards.

The initial construction phase is slated to begin by mid- to late 2025, with broader improvements, including plaza elements and significant pedestrianization, may extend into 2026 and beyond.

“Businesses are rightfully wondering: How is this gonna work?” Dierenfield said. “If we can take this sort of surgical approach to each block, get in, get out and move on, that is how phase one would go. There’s contracting methods that we can then turn on and get that first phase started in middle to end of next year would be our goal.”

Commissioner Spencer Schumacher said daily vehicular traffic on Congress Avenue has dropped 57 percent since 2015, with 12,000 daily pedestrian trips. He said the city should begin looking at lifting the moratorium on new downtown events, which has been in place since 2014.

“We have been telling our community and people hosting events that our downtown streets are closed for a decade now. So if we’re talking about needing programming in 2026, now is the time for us to get rid of that moratorium and start considering how we can have people scheduling a regular program of events,” he said.

“It’s about the signal we’re saying, that we want to invite people back to hosting their events downtown.”

When asked about possible funding options for the full proposed plan, Dierenfield said bond funding, incremental redevelopment, grants and philanthropy are the primary channels that have been identified.

Chair Susan Somers said philanthropy remains an underutilized source of funding for city projects, with the Congress Avenue improvements serving as a potentially ideal match for those kinds of donors.

“This is the type of thing that philanthropists often get excited about and maybe city staff needs to go poke our rich people, or somebody needs to,” she said. “This is the kind of thing that a lot of places do find (money for). I feel like our philanthropic environment seems to be lesser than some peer cities, and I think that’s an area that could be fruitful for certain kinds of urban design projects.”

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Posted In: Planning, District 9