Fifth & Division Improvements
Division Street and Fifth Avenue are an important one-way pair connecting the north and south sides of Ann Arbor through downtown. The streets border several downtown anchors and commercial districts and bisect important pedestrian streets, making them significant travel routes for residents, downtown workers, and visitors. Because of their significance, these corridors offer enormous potential to enhance perception and use of the downtown. Along the corridors, there are few accomodations for pedestrians or bicyclists and signal timings make it easy for cars to traverse their length at 30 mph without stopping. In June 2003, the DDA began a program of improvement projects on these corridors.
Project Updates:
- City Council approved the design plans for Fifth & Division in July 2008 and the selling of the bonds to fund construction in February 2009. Highlighted project goals include the installation of north/south bike lanes, bulb outs at intersections to foster pedestrian crossings, LED lights to reduce City energy costs, and design elements at the gateway points on these corridors. It is anticipated that Division Street elements will be undertaken in 2009 and Fifth Avenue improvements in 2010.
Current Activity:
May 2009
- Bid packets are due June 30th 2009, are available at Becket and Raeder.
February 17th, 2009
- City Council approved selling of the bonds to fund construction for the Fifth and Division Project as well as the South Fifth Avenue Underground Parking Structure.
September 3rd, 2008
- The DDA Board approved phase one construction elements for the Fifth and Division Improvement Project (Board Resolution pdf).
Recommendations include
- Widen Division between Washington and Catherine Street
- Install gateway improvements at Division/Packard and Fifth/Beakes
- Stripe bike lanes and install parking meters and other parking along the length of the streets as possible
- Install intersection improvements at Division/Liberty, Division/Washington, and Fifth/Liberty
- Install improvements along Fifth, between Ann and William Streets
- Install improvements along Division, between Liberty and Huron Streets
- It is anticipated that the revised cost for phase one will be $7.1 million, less a $1 million grant from the State of Michigan, or $6.1 million in DDA dollars.
July 7th, 2008
- City Council approved the Fifth and Division Concept Plan and requested details for phase one of construction.
April 25, 2008
Fifth and Division Improvement Plan Goals
The goals outlined in the Fifth and Division Urban Design Workbook guided the DDA through the planning process and remain the goals of the Fifth and Division Improvement Project.
They are:
"Complete Streets": Maintain vehicluar capacity along this one-way pair, but redesign the corridors to encourage pedestrian and bicycle use.
Connectivity: Connect the south and north sections of the City with bike lanes that link to bike lanes on Packard and across the Broadway Bridge.
Greenhouse gas reduction: Reduce the number of car trips by providing attractive and safe transportation alternatives.
Good planning: Provide sidewalk design direction for future development projects with a comprehensive plan.
Strengthen activity in the core area: Use street meter parking spaces as a pedestrian amenity, to strengthen retail, and to make government services more accessible to citizens.
Phase 1 Elements:
How does the plan for Fifth and Division accomplish these goals?
- While still accommodating traffic on these streets, the plan includes:
- Installation of bike lanes along the full length of the streets on the right hand side, connecting to the Packard bike lanes and then across the Broadway Bridges. To create room for the bike lanes, the very wide travel lanes on these corridors will be reduced to the standard City lane width, and on certain segments the number of travel lanes will be reduced.
- Addition of 100 new on-street parking spaces generally on the left side of the street to give pedestrians a protected walking zone on adjacent sidewalks and additional access to City Hall, the Farmers Market, the Kempf House, and downtown businesses.
- Creation of gateways at Division/Packard, and Fifth/Beakes to ensure that traffic speeds are moderated to posted speeds as motorists enter the downtown area.
- Reduction in the east/west crossing distance at intersections by providing bump-outs to make pedestrian movements more comfortable and safe for seniors, children, and others.
- Reduction in City energy and maintenance costs through the installation of LED lights in locations that currently have cobra head and other kinds of street lights.
Concerns about traffic congestion with a lane of traffic removed:
Parsons-Brinkerhoff Traffic Impact Study findings
- Traffic peaks 7:30-8:30 am and 4:45-5:45 pm
- MDOT assumes .7%/year traffic growth. By 2025, rush hour delays are anticipated to increase by 4-12 seconds on each corridor due to increased traffic.
- If the Plan is implemented, with the same 2025 traffic growth increase, the rush hour delay is est’d to increase by a total of only 5-30 seconds if they drove the entire length of the corridor.
- That means: 1 to 18 seconds more to drive the entire corridor than if no improvements were made.
Fifth and Division Maps:
This map shows where additional on-street parking, both metered and unmetered, is proposed to be added as part of the plan, as well as the locations where it would be moved across the street.
This map shows proposed changes to travel lanes along the corridors through reduction of lanes and/or lane width.
Fifth and Division Designs (large files)
- North Fifth Avenue
- 100-200 North (pdf)
- 300-400 North (pdf)
- 500 North (pdf)
- South Fifth Avenue
- 100-200 South (pdf)
- 300-400 South (pdf)
- 400-500 South (pdf)
- North Division Street
- 100-200 North (pdf)
- 300-400 North (pdf)
- 500 North (pdf)
- South Division Street
- 100-200 South (pdf)
- 300-400 South (pdf)
- 400-500 South (pdf)
- 500 South (pdf)
Project History
The first stage of this program was the development of an "Urban Design Workbook," a study of existing conditions along these corridors, including not just the streets, but the sidewalks and adjoining private property, and collection of recommendations. This study examined not only access to downtown by car, but also created recommendations for improving access to and through downtown by foot, bicycle, or transit. Additionally, the Workbook included recommendations for ensuring that future private development along these corridors fit with current uses and for the development of public and civic spaces.
Exhaustive research and numerous interviews, focus groups, and community workshops resulted in the delivery of the final Workbook in August 2004 by Pollack Design Associates, in association with Quinn Evans Architects, Alexander Resources, The Greenway Collaborative, Inc., and Washtenaw Engineering Company. The Workbook included dozens of recommendations for public improvements, private development design, and public policy changes, and a priority matrix comparing the public cost and difficulty of various recommendations.
In February 2005, the DDA approved the selection of Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. to develop many of the ideas from the Urban Workbook study into detailed designs for public improvements along Huron Avenue, from Third Street to Thayer. In March 2005 the DDA approved the selection of Beckett and Raeder, Inc. for design of improvements along Fifth and Division Streets, from Packard to Beakes.
The entire project plan runs the length of Fifth and Division and maintains existing street width to accomodate lanes of traffic, a bike lane on the right side of each street, and parking on the left. The plan includes important maintenance elements, such as repairing the brick streets in the Kerrytown area and replacing the many dead trees and broken flags of concrete. In addition, the plan includes important improvements such as stamped asphalt crosswalks to call areas out as pedestrian-areas, bump outs to make it easier for pedestrians to cross at highly trafficked intersections, and LED street lights to reduce City costs. These improvements are integral to the plan, as they would help to foster pedestrian movements and sense of place, designating Fifth and Division as places rather than simply as transportation corridors.
Project Timeline:
- 2003 - Urban Design Workbook commissioned from Pollack Design Associates
- 2005 - Beckett & Raeder, Inc selected to refine workbook recommendations
- 2007 - Ann Arbor Non-Motorized Plan approved; cites the Fifth and Division Plan elements as a "near-term opportunity"
- 2008 - City Council votes to approve the Fifth and Division Conceptual Plan
- 2009 - Transportation Enhancement grant awarded, project to be BID in May 2009
Contact Us
If you are interested in a Fifth and Division Bid Packet please contact:
Christy Summers
Beckett & Raeder
535 W. William Ste 101
Ann Arbor Mi, 48103
Phone: 734-663-2622
Bids are due June 30th, 2009
If you have questions about this project, please contact the DDA's Project Manager:
Adrian Iraola
Park Avenue Consultants
Project Manager
Phone:
734-216-9830
Email:
adrian@parkavenueconsultant.com