Reimagining Broad Street - Perspective of a UTC Student
As Chattanooga continues to thrive and grow, there has been a call to action to redevelop the downtown area, namely Broad Street. Historically, Broad Street, located in the riverfront area of downtown, has served as the cultural and economic epicenter of the city. It is home to many key landmarks such as the Tennessee Aquarium, the AT&T Stadium, the Riverwalk, and many local businesses and restaurants. All these things help to represent who Chattanooga is as a city, but unfortunately, much of the infrastructure of the downtown area is outdated and is experiencing an imbalance in social and economic amenities. The purpose of the Reimagining Broad Street project is to reinvigorate and cultivate a thriving downtown area that will accommodate the residents and visitors that come to Chattanooga. This project is essential in address the civic responsibility to serve the social and economic disparities.
Digitalized picture of the current conditions of Broad Street. River City Company / Dover Kohl & Partners
While the north end of the Riverfront district has seen tremendous development, the area continuing southward on Broad Street also requires attention to create a human centered community that all people can enjoy. The fundamental challenges of this project are addressing the need for multi-modal transportation, integration of green infrastructure and pedestrian oriented walkways, parking, and supporting economic development. Broad Street is inherently, broad, which gives it significant potential for physical change. Additionally, it is pertinent to consider the desires of the residents of Chattanooga as they play an instrumental role in the redevelopment design. River City Company has facilitated many events and posted several survey questions to better understand what developments the residents want to see.
Recently I attended an event workshop hosted by River City Company that brought together 130+ members of the community to collaborate on how they want to see Broad Street in the future. The event was started with an introduction by the CEO of River City Company, Emily Mack, and then lead by Victor Dover from Dover, Kohl, & Partners. In his speech, Victor touched on the past, present, and future potential of Broad Street. Taking inspiration from other cities in the US that were retrofitted for a positive urban environment, he showed us how we can create a stronger community through urban planning. After his speech, the participants of the workshop were split into 15 groups and lead into a group activity to collaborate on how they think Broad Street should change physically. Each group was given a cross section picture of Broad Street and asked to use cutouts with various pictures to take away or add certain features into the street. These cutouts included car lanes, bus lanes, trees, green space, buildings, extra sidewalks, and chairs to indicate seating areas. All 15 groups presented their work to their fellow participants and the facilitators of the event. The purpose of this workshop was to engage and collaborate with members of the community of Chattanooga, because ultimately the change is to benefit and create positive interactions between ALL Chattanoogans.
Right now, Broad Street is predominantly a car centric street. Although there are bike lanes and sidewalks, according to our survey, 80% of traffic on broad street comes from the use of cars. The existing bike and walking infrastructure is usable, but the environment of the street does not promote the use of those modes of transportation. Having two lanes of traffic going both ways creates a very chaotic and exposed domain that sets a precedence for car users and brings about a safety issue. As a college student, my main mode of transportation is by foot. Just like any other college campus, parking is a nightmare, so walking actually becomes more convenient than driving. Being able to extend the nature of getting to where I need to go via walking or biking or even newly implemented public transportation in the downtown area, would be extremely beneficial given the close proximity of UTC to Broad Street. This notion can also be said for the residents of the downtown area. Eliminating the need to drive just a couple blocks could be solved by the promotion of multi-modal transportation and the guarantee of safety as well. The need for improved bike and walking infrastructure is also warranted by the uneven sidewalks and inconsistent bike lanes that randomly disappear. Changing and improving the existing infrastructure is vital to simply bringing people onto Broad Street.
Current view of Broad Street looking at the north end, towards the Tennessee Aquarium. Chattanooga Times Free Press
Parking alone has also been a main concern from many people who took the survey and attended the workshop. It has been said that parking is limited, expensive, and located in inconvenient areas. Due to the perceived limitation of other modes of transportation to downtown, the lack of good parking options dissuades people from even coming into the area. A parking study of the downtown area in Chattanooga by the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority/ Chattanooga Parking Authority and River City Company, in partnership with the Lyndhurst and Benwood Foundations, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Siskin Hospital, Erlanger Health System, and the City of Chattanooga shows the reality of parking. According to the study, there are 43,000 parking spaces and one third of the lots downtown are never 50% full on typical days. Therefore, the perceived lack of parking is most likely prompted by limited parking for storefronts that don’t require walking. On the other hand, when I attended the Reimagining Broad Street workshop, many of the presentations geared towards getting rid of the surface parking lots altogether and implementing an efficient and desirable form of public transportation. This would in turn eliminate the lack of parking in downtown because residents and visitors could commute into and possibly out of the downtown area. While getting rid of all surface parking lots is not feasible, a balance needs to be created to accommodate for everyone. Effective public transportation is a highly valuable option that could accomplish this.
From the survey and seen in the Reimagining Broad Street workshop, it was apparent that most people wanted to see more greenspaces and even parks. In the survey 75% of people said that it was very important or extremely important to have trees and shade. Incorporating these elements into the streetscape will help to bring the Broad Street to life with color and nature. As someone who moved to Chattanooga for the outdoors scene, it is a nice accommodation to be able to feel like you’re not completely outside of that realm when in the downtown area. Greenspace is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it creates an environment where people want to walk their dog, they want to go on a stroll, and they want to hang out in. Incorporating more grass areas, trees, green roofs, and plants offers the experience of feeling like you are in nature without having to travel anywhere. Additionally, these green developments can help the city feel less like a concrete jungle and more like a backyard, especially for residents.
Right now, Broad Street is plagued with empty store fronts, surface parking lots, and businesses that do not necessarily bring attraction to the area. Because of this, there is a lack of reasoning to go onto Broad Street. Most people do not use Broad Street as an area to hang out at or around; they use it as a single destination, whether that is going to work or going out to eat at a restaurant. However, the purpose of Reimagining Broad Street is to reinvigorate that area, and this cannot be accomplished if there is a lack of stores and restaurants that people want to visit. These additions are not only important for the people that live in Chattanooga but also ensuring that visitors will come back to see these attractions and recommend them to friends. According to the survey conducted, many people wanted to see more dining that extended to the sidewalks, retail stores, and family friendly amenities. Focusing on implementing these economic developments will help to bring activity and liveliness to Broad Street. Having a variety of amenities and allowing them to flow out onto the street will invite people to walk around and engage in what Broad Street will hopefully bring in the future.
Broad Street has great potential to become a thriving area that attracts resident and visitors, but its historical infrastructure has created a barrier for this to occur. Addressing the issues and receiving opinions from locals is the first step in being able to bring about change to the area. The Reimagining Broad Street workshop and survey brought together extremely beneficial data that will be used to redesign and reorient Broad Street into an area that all people want to go to. Considering the design aspects and public service/safety will aid in serving the civic responsibility for Chattanooga to improve upon its cultural and economic infrastructure. But most importantly, we need the opinions of as many Chattanoogans as possible to create the most beneficial reinvigoration of downtown! The Reimagining Broad Street project is not only for visitors and tourists, but also to encourage productive and enjoyable daily use for the residents as well! Our next phase in Reimagining Broad Street is drafting the design for how Broad Street will change and it is pertinent to understand and consider the needs of everyone!
You can see draft designs at www.broadstreetcha.com and take the survey to provide feedback before Feb. 3, 2023. River City Company looks forward to hearing your comments along with providing additional updates on a plan in the Summer 2023.
Emily Pinson
River City Company Intern