Pullman council supports downtown street project

PULLMAN — The Pullman City Council offered strong support Tuesday for a plan to temporarily close one lane of traffic along East Main Street and provide room for angled parking and a trio of mini pedestrian plazas.

The demonstration project — which could last until late September or early October — is the first major effort to implement portions of the Core Business District Master Plan, which the council approved earlier this year.

The goal of the master plan is to make downtown Pullman a more vibrant, pedestrian-friendly environment by focusing less on how to move cars and more on how to attract people.

After discussing the proposal for more than an hour, the council unanimously agreed to apply for up to $17,500 in lodging tax funding to pay for construction of two or three “parklet” platforms.

A parklet is a type of mini-plaza that sits atop a wooden or metal frame that extends out into the street. It takes up a small number of parking stalls, but provides space for the public to sit and relax while they’re visiting downtown businesses.

“They’re often used as a tool for ‘activating’ streets and attracting pedestrians and cyclists,” said Pullman Economic Development Director Jennifer Hackman.

Besides advancing the goals of the downtown master plan, she said, the demonstration project also provides support for local businesses that have been hammered by the coronavirus shutdown.

As part of the project, East Main Street would be reduced from three lanes to two lanes between Paradise Street and Grand Avenue. The south lane of traffic would be converted into a series of back-in angled parking spaces.

Public Works Director Kevin Gardes noted that the angled parking would result in a net increase of seven parking stalls, compared to what’s there now. However, some of the spaces would then be used to provide room for the parklets.

A dedicated bike lane would also be added along the south side of East Main, between the angled parking stalls and the sidewalk. Concrete jersey barriers would be added to keep the parked cars from intruding onto the bike lane.

The council directed Public Works to continue its efforts to finalize the demonstration project, although they did have a number of questions and concerns.

Councilman Al Sorensen, for example, questioned the use of concrete barriers as backstops for the angled parking spots, noting the possibility that people might back into them.

“I’m seeing some potential liability on the city’s side,” said Sorensen, who is an insurance agent.

Although he has been a strong advocate of efforts to improve and revitalize the downtown core, Sorensen still expressed a note of caution, given the potential budget shortfalls the city will face this year because of the coronavirus pandemic and related shutdown.

“In my opinion, (the city) needs to be extremely careful about spending,” he said. “Any project that gets done needs to be something we really think needs to be done. I love the idea of this (demonstration project). I’ve pushed for it a long time, I want to see it … but I’m a little leery about some of this stuff.”

Gardes noted that, if the lodging tax funding is approved, the only other city expense for the project would be about $2,000 to $5,000 for restriping some traffic lane lines and installing the jersey barriers. That expense would come out of the Street Fund, rather than the general fund.

“I’m in wholehearted support of this,” said Councilwoman Eileen Macoll. “COVID or no COVID, this is a fantastic idea.”

And if it succeeds in attracting more pedestrian traffic, she said, then maybe the city should revisit the possibility of expanding the downtown parking time limits to three hours.

“Then people can sit outside and enjoy our beautiful summer weather,” Macoll said.

Based on the council’s action Tuesday, Hackman will submit a grant application to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. Any funding recommendation would then come back to the council for final approval.

In other action Tuesday, the council authorized Mayor Glenn Johnson and Finance Director Mike Urban to enter into a contract with the Washington Department of Commerce to access upward of $1.03 million in federal funding for coronavirus-related expenses.

The money would reimburse the city for certain coronavirus-related expenses incurred between March 1 and Oct. 31.

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.