The Greater Downtown Council and the city of Duluth are drafting plans that could dramatically enhance how people travel around Duluth.
Business leaders and Mayor Don Ness are drafting a plan for a multi-million dollar downtown multi-modal transportation center where people can catch a train, bus or cab; where visitors can rent a car; where cyclists can lock up their bikes and take a shower; and perhaps where people could then walk to the expanded Duluth Entertainment Convention Center or Canal Park indoors.
"It's a project that's setting the stage for transportation in downtown Duluth for decades to come," said Dennis Jensen, general manager of the Duluth Transportation Authority.
In a move geared to help better connect the traditional downtown with the Lakefront, the project will potentially also include reconfiguring the sidewalks along Lake Avenue and Fifth Avenue West, making them more pedestrian friendly, and renovating the Northwest Passage skywalk between the DECC and downtown. As part of the renovations, the new skywalk could include shops and restaurants.
"What's going to take place over the next three to four months is going to be a merging of these ideas," Ness said. Currently studies are under way by various agencies including the DTA, St. Louis County and the Duluth-Superior Metropolitan Interstate Commission, looking at various transportation issues connected with where the hub should sit, and how pedestrian friendly downtown is.
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Plans could also include making the permanent fixes necessary to the Minnesota slip bridge and linking the Munger Trail to the Lakewalk.
The project, which has been under discussion for years, is gaining traction thanks to the Obama administration's push to pursue sustainable development projects such as investing in downtowns and discouraging urban sprawl. City leaders hope the project can make it onto the federal transportation bill that likely will be passed some time in September, according to John Schadl, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar.
Ness said while these projects are not far enough along to be part of President Obama's upcoming stimulus bill, there's a chance that it could gain funding within a few years, especially if the stimulus bill helps clear the backlog of infrastructure projects already on the waiting list.
The proposal stems from a decades-old desire to make downtown Duluth more alluring to visitors and residents, business leaders said.
Ness said he doesn't foresee any city money going toward this project, so if it does ultimately receive federal funding in a few years, private funding will also need to follow, organizers said. In other cities that have constructed multi-transit hubs, private developers quickly follow, adding more housing around them.
"It makes sense for people to live in a more densely populated space," said Abbot Apter, past chairman of the Greater Downtown Council. "It dates back to our desire to enhance the downtown that probably goes back to the bricking of the streets."
