The Broadway Complete Streets project, to reallocate the street from 3rd Street to 24th Street, is underway. I have been walking this section recently, and I see several things that greatly concern me. To be honest, I was not paying much attention when this project went through public review, and attended only one meeting. I had not looked closely at the project documents. The page linked above confuses me. There are no final design documents, yet I have several documents more recent, including one that says final. Did the city unlink these newer documents? Lose them?

It appears from the work I see being done currently, that parking will be preserved along the entire length of the project. While this makes complete sense where there are small businesses, there are also several blocks where there are large buildings that provide off-street parking, or fast food chain restaurants that that have ample off-street parking. Parking can be a good thing, but not when it takes the place of wider sidewalks and sidewalk buffers.

One positive is that vertical curbs are being installed, replacing the rolled curbs that exist along much of the street at this time. But a negative is that apparently curb lines are not being moved as part of the project, meaning that under-width sidewalks and under-width sidewalk buffers will remain so. A diagram from the planning process shows eight foot sidewalks.

Here is an actual constructed section, north side between 18th and 19th Streets. The sidewalk is six feet, and a completely useless sidewalk buffer of about 18 inches is included. A sidewalk buffer this narrow cannot provide planting space, and does not provide any physical or visual separation from the street. The street width could have been reallocated to a wider sidewalk, and a sidewalk buffer wide enough to host trees, but it was not.

At Broadway and 17th Street, there is an existing crosswalk on the west leg of the intersection. The design diagrams and the built northwest corner eliminate this crosswalk by failing to place an ADA ramp for the crosswalk (though the paint is still there and clearly visible). So much for a complete streets design that encourages walking. This design discourages walking by making distances to safe crosswalks longer rather than shorter. Of course, unless the city posts no pedestrian crossing signs and legally barricades, the crossing is still open to legal use, since state law says there are crosswalks on every leg of every intersection unless specifically prohibited. I wonder if the city did the legally required warrants for removal of this crosswalk.

Curb extensions (bulb-outs) are being installed at several locations. In general, these are a good thing, shortening the crossing distance for walkers and increasing visibility between drivers and walkers. One example, done right, is at 23rd Street.

On the other hand, a diagonal ramp was newly constructed at 18th Street. There is no reason for using a diagonal ramp, and in fact this type of ramp has been illegal under PROWAG since August 2023. An excuse that the design was completed before PROWAG was finalized is no excuse. Illegal is illegal.

The city’s commitment to diagonal ramps apparently knows no bounds. On the northeast corner of Broadway and 16th Street, the entire sidewalk was replaced on Broadway and the half block of 16th. Yet care was taken to preserve the diagonal ramp. To make sure that walkers and users of mobility devices know how much they are valued, the pavement edge for the crosswalk over 16th Street was also preserved, see second photo.

The lack of attention to detail also shows up in how crosswalks are maintained across streets. Here are the two ramps for 22nd Street. Notice how they don’t line up? What sort of crosswalk will be painted here to contain these two crossings?

There are also problems with safety for walkers during construction. At several locations, signal bases and signal wiring has been installed on corners. But simple folding barricades are being used to mark these. They are a tripping hazard since the barricades do not meet the PROWAG requirements of detectability, and they are in the sidewalk path of travel. Though it would be expensive to use detectable barriers around each of these locations, it is the law.

The upshot of all these concerns is that I am afraid the reconstructed Broadway will not be a complete street. It will continue to be a car-dominated place, not supportive of walkers and the small businesses that line the corridor. The city has the common attitude that all it takes to make a complete street is to add bike lanes. It is not. Much as I like bike facilities, sidewalks and trees come first. Apparently, on Broadway, they do not.

Yep, it too late to change the flaws in this project, but it is important that citizens know that the city doesn’t really mean complete streets when it says complete streets, and to keep an eagle eye on them when they next try a project like this.