Learn about latest ideas for rethinking downtown Ann Arbor

ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor officials have spent the past year discussing the future of downtown, rethinking street designs and public spaces, and they’re now seeking more input on ideas.

As a followup to initial public workshops in March, the Downtown Development Authority is inviting community members to a second public engagement round from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the downtown library.

There will be a formal presentation at 12:30 p.m. and a repeat of it at 6 p.m., with open house hours throughout the day.

The city is in the midst of a comprehensive planning process looking at how the city could develop and build up in the coming decades, with a main goal being more housing density.

Simultaneously, the city and DDA are partnering on a circulation study looking at expanding the downtown bikeway network, transit improvements, converting more one-way streets to two-way traffic and possibly more curbless streets, shared streets or entire blocks closed to cars and turned into pedestrian malls.

DDA Executive Director Maura Thomson gave City Council an update of the latest talks in September, saying the results of the downtown study will inform the DDA’s new development plan for council consideration hopefully by next summer, including recommendations for projects to undertake.

One component has changed since the study began, Thomson said, saying the focus on “event streets” has broadened to look at “the public realm as a whole.”

When talking about the public realm, the recommendations that will be coming out of the study are related to street design, enhanced public spaces, placemaking, wayfinding and infrastructure investments that can support seasonal street closures and activation of streets, she said.

Liberty Street is a good example of a potential project that may rise to the top, Thomson told council, noting it’s the main connector between Main and State streets and has varying sidewalk widths and funky lane configurations on some blocks.

“We really believe that Liberty Street is ready for a major infrastructure project and that could be really transformational for our downtown,” she said. “So, I would suspect that Liberty Street would be a project that would make it into our development plan.”

In terms of enhancing public spaces, the Farmers Market, Sculpture Plaza and Liberty Plaza are spaces where there’s opportunity to maximize use, Thomson said. Existing plaza spaces are somewhat minimal in terms of elements in them and there are lots of fun and interactive things that could be added to encourage more families and young people to go and give people reasons to linger downtown, she said.

“We are also looking at reclaiming some of our public space,” she said, mentioning the corner of the University of Michigan Diag at State Street and North University Avenue.

“The public right of way on that corner actually extends well beyond the sidewalk,” she said, adding it’s seen as part of the Diag. “This is space that we’re looking at for a potential new plaza area that the State Street district could use for activation.”

The DDA also is looking at infrastructure investments that will connect neighborhoods and connect them to parking structures, as well as undertaking projects through a new public art and placemaking program called Elevate that the DDA board approved in June, Thomson said, saying the DDA is working with the Ann Arbor Art Center on that and has issued requests for proposals for some exciting projects.

“And then finally for seasonal streets and activation, we’re looking at infrastructure investments that the DDA can make to make those seasonal street closures easier for organizations to close, to activate, mainly barricade improvements,” she said.

The current barricade situation for closing downtown streets for events and outdoor dining is less than ideal, she said.

“We are looking at many different options,” she said. “There are options related to seasonal closures versus longterm, so our hope is that out of this study we’re going to come out with some solid infrastructure investments that will support neighborhoods who are doing these seasonal or longer-term street closures.”

Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free “3@3 Ann Arbor” daily newsletter.