Last year the City of Auburn authorized Seattle’s MIG SvR Design to complete a $175,000 study of the downtown corridor.
Since then, City leaders have met with architects and designers who’ve showed them images of sidewalks and curbs, public open space and art, vegetation and lighting, bike lanes, seating and the like.
Conceptual designs offering a glimpse into what the downtown may look like in the future.
“We have a historical Main Street that’s just waiting to be recharged, redeveloped, reactivated,” Lauren Flemister, City senior planner of urban design and a member of the City’s Street Urban Design Team, told the city council at a study session.
That was the jam.
Next came the pill.
Kevin Snyder, director of public works and community development for the City of Auburn, next explained just how much what he called “potentially one of the larger projects in the City’s most recent history” would cost.
“For this vision to happen, you’re looking at a cost of anywhere between $18 to $22 million. That’s for below-ground and above-ground improvements in an area from C Street on the west to F Street on the east,” Snyder said.
A further challenge, Snyder continued, is that funding sources will not be as available to the City as they were for the recent makeover of South Division Street.
“The reality is that although we – as staff – will work very hard on your behalf and on behalf of the citizens of Auburn to look for (the funds), it is very real and conceivable that for this project to go forward, we are going to have to figure out how to finance a large part of it on our own,” Snyder said. “That will come through some available opportunities such as enterprise fund money to fund below-ground improvements that are needed, such as sewers, water lines and stormwater facilities.
“But the reality is that we will have to sit down and spend time talking with you, and we don’t have any easy answers at this point. … The reality is that the size and the scale and the scope of this project probably means it can’t be done in one phase. So you’re going to hear about multiple phases, and the cost of multiple phases and long-term perspectives,” Snyder said.
The team has pitched two possibilities for sidewalks, curb and open space designs, both thematically tied to Auburn’s history.
It has also entertained and tested new ideas in hopes of arriving at a community-backed and City-funded preferred plan by the end of the year.
One option explores Auburn’s railroad history, a plan that displays curbless streets with mixing zones, enticing parklets and big trees.
The other option is influenced by the valley’s meandering rivers, including the White River, which once flowed across Main Street near B Street Northeast. The proposal also emphasizes organic forms, such as benches of overblown river rocks, more green spaces and fewer big trees.
Once the alternatives proposals lead to a preferred one, and the plan is officially approved, project and City staff can begin the funding cycle. The project will pursue grant opportunities.
City Council members listened, peered, scribbled notes and offered their thoughts.
“I want to make sure that as we make some of these decisions, staff is built into it,” said Largo Wales.
“I think we can’t afford to miss this opportunity,” John Holman said. “That’s going to require us to think generationally and not the next election term.”
Holman noted that 50 years ago, the City of Bellevue set itself a goal of outperforming Seattle, and today, across many administrations and councils, it is on the verge of achieving that goal.
