How to Get From Here to There: Access and Connectivity in the Lincoln Park Neighborhood

Transformative changes are taking place in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

View from the new Western Middle School
Looking down from the new Western Middle School site to the new Clyde Iron recreational facility (lower left)

A major redevelopment of the old Clyde Iron industrial complex was just completed. A new Western middle school is rising on the hillside. A segment of the Cross-City trail will be winding through this neighborhood in the next few years as it spans the city from east to west along the waterfront.

Here at the MIC, we see these exciting new community-oriented developments and start to think about…access, connectivity and land use.

We’re kind of geeky that way.  Let me explain.

Access is about making sure that people, who have different mobility options and who need or want to use these facilities, can get to them easily and safely.

Connectivity is about making sure that usable and intuitive transportation links exist between the new developments and other destinations.  At the base of this this neighborhood, popular destinations would include Wade Stadium, Wheeler Field and Harrison Park.  And along the top of the ridgeline are Skyline Parkway and the Superior Hiking Trail.

Complicating the situation, the land uses for these facilities are distinctly at odds with each other.

The middle school is located on the edge of a traditional residential neighborhood that is easy to walk through, with square blocks, houses close together and minimal, slow moving traffic. It can actually be characterized as a semi-rural area, with few sidewalks and narrow streets, many of which dead end into large open spaces.

The Clyde Iron complex, in contrast, which also houses a Boys and Girls Club, indoor athletic fields, year-round ice rink, and in the future a nearby Duluth Children’s Museum—is located in an established industrial area, where a significant level of pedestrian traffic was not anticipated.

Last but not least is the huge barrier of the railroad tracks that run between the school and the Wheeler Field park space and the Denfeld neighborhood immediately west of the school.

So, a number of our current studies are taking a look at how people move around this neighborhood in light of the new developments.  Creating a walking corridor between these facilities is a key transportation piece for this neighborhood.

The Lincoln Park Pedestrian Corridor Plan is focused on creating a walking route up and down the hill from the middle school to the Clyde Iron complex.

An upcoming Safe Routes to School site assessment will further examine the school and walking and bicycling routes to the middle school to the surrounding neighborhoods.

And a larger neighborhood wide transportation study, the Lincoln Park Multimodal Transportation Assessment will build off of the other 2 studies and focus on all modes of travel in the neighborhood.

Lots of work is ahead.  We’ll keep you posted.

Photo credit: Scott Byykkonen

Co-writing credit: Rondi Watson

Our Love/Hate Relationship with Central Entrance

Just last week I dropped a friend off near Arrowhead Road and Highway 53 just before 8 a.m. and headed toward my office in downtown Duluth.  I glanced at the dashboard clock and it said 7:58.  I had anticipated a congested trip but traffic was fairly light.

Love It

I made my way downtown thinking about my upcoming work day, scored a (free) parking spot, and to my surprise saw my car clock said 8:05.  Seven minutes to go five miles on Central Entrance, of all routes.  I had to admit that was an easy and direct commute.

Hate It

Fresh in my memory, however, are recent after-work trips to Miller Hill to run errands where I waited out more than one cycle of traffic light changes at Arlington Road and Central Entrance.  I–like everyone else–get frustrated by sitting in traffic.

But I think that we get frustrated much quicker than big city drivers who have horror stories about the amount of time they get stuck in traffic.  Relatively speaking, we have it pretty good.  So what is it about Central Entrance that makes many of us want to avoid it?

The Bigger Picture

From a transportation standpoint, it’s not just about reducing vehicle congestion on this road, but about balancing the needs of all users.  In transportation planning, we think about  improving Central Entrance from many perspectives, including:

  • Mobility (getting travelers through the area)
  • Access (getting customers to local businesses)
  • Multimodal (accommodating pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users)
  • Safety (for all)
  • Livability (for neighborhood residents)

Someday (The Vision)

The City of Duluth has been thinking about these things as well.  A long term vision for Central Entrance was recently identified, with input from businesses and residents, in its Central Entrance-Miller Hill Small Area Plan.  The vision for the corridor is for a more walkable area that would regain its focus as the “main street” for the Duluth Heights neighborhood.

Where We Come In

As a step toward implementing the plan, the City has asked the MIC to examine the transportation challenges on the Central Entrance corridor.  We will be collecting data, surveying residents, and making recommendations that will help in achieving the goal of eventually transforming Central Entrance into a more comfortable and attractive part of town.

There will be more information posted via this blog as our work progresses, but meanwhile, you can get more information about the Central Entrance Corridor study on our website.

Your Thoughts?

So what do you think about Duluth’s neighborhood-oriented vision for Central Entrance?  Can you picture a balanced transportation system like I describe above?

 

First Steps toward a Walkable Lincoln Park

It takes more thought than you might expect to move people safely from the top of the hill to the bottom and back again.

Lincoln Park Pedestrian Study

This summer the MIC and area non-profits have partnered to do a pedestrian study of the Lincoln Park Neighborhood of Duluth. The study will look at the way that people who walk and bike (especially school-aged children) move up and down the hill, with the aim of finding and encouraging the best possible route between the site of the New Lincoln Park Middle School and the Duluth Heritage Sports Center and the proposed Cross City trail.

It’s a short study, slated to be completed in just six weeks.

A diverse group of community groups, led by MIC Senior Planner James Gittemeier (pictured) and assembled by Cliff Knettel, Executive Director of NHS Duluth, all share the view that a well designed pedestrian plan benefits the entire neighborhood.

Other study participants include the Engineering department for the City of Duluth, Fit City Duluth, Local Initiatives Support Corporation of Duluth (LISC), and neighborhood volunteers.

Walking, not just Talking

Looking at maps and discussing best routes is one thing, but getting out there on the ground is another.  Study committee members will perform a walkability audit of the paths most likely to be used by students.

Findings of the audit, along with its recommendations, will serve as the basis for the Lincoln Park Middle School Safe Routes to School grant application for the 2012 round of applications. Safe Routes to School is a federally funded program that promotes children walking and bicycling to school by funding targeted improvements to bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in school areas. Duluth has received a number of these grants in the past.

Stay tuned for more information as this study moves forward.