Item B: River Avenue Improvements

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The conceptual design is shown as Section 2 of Attachment A. The conceptual design includes: 1. Two travel lanes and a center turn lane the entire length of River Avenue. 2. Setback sidewalks and street trees on both sides of River Avenue from River Road to the eastern property line of the post office. 3. A curbside sidewalk on the north side of River Avenue east of the post office. 4. Street trees at the discretion of the property owners on the north side of River Avenue east of the post office 5. On-street bike lanes on both sides of River Avenue from River Road to the eastern property line of the post office. 6. A multi-use setback path and street trees on the southside of River Avenue east of the post office. 7. Four painted crosswalks. 8. Bioswales where possible. In addition, the Stakeholder Group recommended that the following work be advanced and implemented with the River Avenue improvement project: 1. Operational improvements to the River Avenue/River Road intersection. 2. A separate bike/pedestrian path on the south side of River Avenue connecting to the Santa Clara neighborhood underneath the Beltline on the east end of River Avenue. Subsequent to the completion of the work of the Stakeholder Group, the River Road Community Organization withdrew its affirmative votes for the conceptual design and submitted a minority report, included as Section 4 to Attachment A. RELATED CITY POLICIES The design developed by the stakeholder representative group does not fully comply with the Arterial and Collector Street Plan (ACSP) and associated adopted standards for design of a major collector street. If the council approves the conceptual design, an administrative rule would need to be processed to create an exception in the ACSP that would allow these modifications. The deviations for the conceptual design from the standards identified in the ACSP include: 1. A multi-use path in lieu of bike lanes on the street on the section of the road east of the post office. 2. Curbside instead of setback walk along the north side of the street east of the post office. 3. Street trees at the discretion of the property owners along the north side of the street east of the post office. COUNCIL OPTIONS The City Council may: 1. Approve the conceptual design of transportation improvements for River Avenue approved by the River Avenue Stakeholder Group and direct the City Manager to proceed with the final design and bidding of an improvement project. 2. Modify the conceptual design of transportation improvements for River Avenue approved by the River Avenue Stakeholder Group and direct the City Manager to proceed with the final design and bidding of an improvement project. 3. Reject the conceptual design and provide direction on whether or how to proceed to meet the transportation needs on River Avenue. L:\CMO\2005 Council Agendas\M051212\S051212B.doc