CR 91-205 Hopkins Alley ImprovementSeptember 10, 1991
Overview.
Council Report: 91 -205
HOPKINS ALLEY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
Proposed Action.
Staff recommends adoption of the following motion: Move to authorize staff
to solicit requests for proposals for a preliminary analysis and
feasibility report for a proposed alley improvement project.
This action will allow staff to solicit proposals from consultants to
undertake initial study for a possible alley improvement project from 7th
to 11th Avenue, both north and south of Mainstreet.
In 1989 the City contracted with Westwood Professional Services, Inc. to
prepare conceptual drawings of the alley south of Mainstreet from 7th
Avenue to 11th Avenue. The purpose of these drawings was to provide ideas
for improving the aesthetic and functional value of the alleys in this
area. Westwood prepared four concept drawings.
Subsequent to the completion of the work by Westwood, staff met with both
the City Council and Business Council to analyze Westwood's ideas. The
general consensus was that the staff should continue to explore this
activity as a. possible future project. In order to facilitate
W implementation, the. City Council designated $450,000 of a million
$ , $1.3 million
redevelopment bond sold in December 1989 for an alley improvement project.
With completion in 1991 of both the reconstruction of Mainstreet and
undergrounding of utilities in the downtown area, there is the opportunity
to undertake an alley improvement project in 1992. City staff recently met
with the Business Council to discuss a project for next year, consisting of
alley improvements to both north and south of Mainstreet between 7th and
11th Avenues. In general, the Business Council indicated interest in
having the City investigate the feasibility of such a project.
Primary Issues to Consider.
o Which consultants will be requested to respond to the RFP?
o What is the initial project area proposed to be analyzed?
o What process /time schedule is proposed to be used for this
project?
o What is the purpose of the preliminary analysis?
o How could the project be financed?
o Other issues?
o What further action is required by the City Council?
Supporting Documents.
o Staff analysis of issues
o P evious alley improvement study
4/1/‘ //
Thomas K. Harmenin
Community Deve t Director
Analysis of Issues.
CR: 91 -205
Page 2
Based on the recommended action, the City Council has the following issues
to consider:
o Which consultants will be requested to respond to the RFP?
Westwood Professional Services and RLK Associates will be requested to
respond to the request for proposal. Westwood Professional Services was
chosen due to its involvement • in the preparation of the original alley
improvement study. RLK Associates was chosen due to the fact that Dick
Koppy played an integral part in the original alley improvement study. In
addition, staff sees certain advantages to having its Mainstreet Project
Manager involved in an alley improvement project.
o What is the initial project area proposed to be analyzed?
The initial alley improvement project analyzed by Westwood Professional
Services pertained to that portion of the alley located between 7th and
llth Avenues south of Mainstreet. Staff is suggesting that the preliminary
analysis, and potentially future study, analyze an alley improvement
project from 7th to •llth Avenue, both south and north of Mainstreet.
Staff, as well as the Business Council, feel that the alley north of
.M ainstreet merits study regarding possible improvements.
o What process /time schedule is proposed to be used for this proj ct?
What follows is a preliminary time line which explains the sequence of
events which would need to take place to allow an alley improvement project
to occur in 1992. This schedule assumes that the City will not assess any
of the costs of the project. The schedule also assumes that the City will
not have great difficulty in obtaining necessary easements.
o September 17 - City Council authorizes solicitation of RFPs.
o October 1 - City Council chooses consultant to undertake
preliminary analysis of an alley improvement project.
o October 1- November 19 Consultant and City staff, with input
from the Business Council /DRC, undertake a preliminary analysis
of an alley improvement project.
o November 19 City Council accepts preliminary analysis and
authorizes commencement of a full feasibility report for an alley
improvement project.
o November 19- January 21 - Consultant, with assistance from City
staff and the Business Council /DRC, prepares the feasibility
report.
o January 21 - City Council accepts feasibility report and
authorizes preparation of plans and specifications.
o January 21 -March 17 - Consultant, with assistance from City staff
and the Business Council /DRC, undertakes the preparation of plans
and specifications for an alley improvement project.
o April 7 -May 5 — Bidding phase.
o May 19 - Council awards bid for alley improvement project.
a After Raspberry Festival - Construction of alley improvement
project commences. Please note that this date is very tentative
and requires further study. It would appear possible for the
alley improvement project to commence prior to the Raspberry
Festival occurring. An assessment would need to be made of the
impact such a project would have on Raspberry Festival.
Based upon the above - stated time schedule, it should be recognized that in
order for the City to undertake an alley improvement project of some type
in 1992, the City will need to initiate the process very soon.
o What is the purpose of the preliminary analysis?
Although the original alley improvement project did involve a conceptual
analysis of a possible project, staff is recommending that prior to
w undertaking a full feasibility report, a preliminary analysis be undertaken
of the proposed project for the followin g reasons:
o Allows the City, as well as the Business Council /DRC, to revisit
the original concept, issues and recommendations outlined in the
original study.
Takes into consideration the possible addition to the project of
the alley between 7th and 11th Avenues, north of Mainstreet.
o Will allow the City and Business Council /DRC to identify new
issues, as well as an appropriate scope of work, for a. possible
feasibility study. As an example, staff has discussed the idea
of undertaking improvements to the public parking lots adjacent
to the alleys.
Will allow preliminary analysis of the cost and funding sources
for a possible alley improvement project.
How could the project be financed?
In December of 1989 the City allocated, as a part of a $1.3 million
redevelopment bond, $450,000 for an alley improvement ° project. These
funds, along with tax increment reserves which the City has on hand, would
be the primary source of funding for the proposed project. Based upon
recent discussions with the Business Council, it was the opinion of the
•usiness Council that consideration should be given to undertaking a
project in 1992, but that the use of special assessments not be considered
as a funding source.
CR: 91 -205
Page 3
March 17 City Council approves plans and specifications and
authorizes advertisement for bids.
o Other issues?
When attempting to initiate an alley improvement project, several issues
became apparent which the City Council may wish to keep in mind.
Need for easements - It may be necessary to obtain easements from
property owners to allow for a realignment of an alley(s). The
City's request for these easements may be met with opposition
which could have an impact from a timing perspective, as well as
project costs.
Business and community support - When staff met with the Business
Council, we inquired as to whether it was appropriate to
undertake this project the year after completing the Mainstreet
improvements downtown. The response we received from the
business members in attendance was that we should take advantage
of the momentum developed and undertake the improvements in 1992.
This same question of whether we are trying to accomplish too
much too quickly becomes apparent for the community in general
but is not as easily assessed.
o What further action is required by the City Council?
T he Council will have a number of opportunities to act on the
proposed
project. The next action the City Council would be requested to take would
be to approve the selection of a consultant for the preliminary analysis
i
and, if deemed appropriate, the feasibility study. As was noted earlier in
the time schedule, the City Council will have a number of opportunities to
review the proposed project.
Alt rnatives.
CR: 91 -205
Page 4
Based upon staff's recommendation, the City Council has the following
alternatives:
1. Approve staff's recommendation.
2. Discontinue any further action on the project.
3. Table item for further information.
ALLEY IMPROVEMENT STUDY
Westwood Professional Services, Inc.
ALLEY IMPROVEMENT STUDY
HOPKINS, MINNESOTA
16 May 1989
INTRODUCTION
II. PARKING EXPERIENCE
Issues:
The City of Hopkins has made some operational and visual improvements to the
alley south of Main Street between 7th and 11th Avenues in the downtown area
and is considering additional improvements. It is felt that this alley is an
important environmental element in the general community. It provides a
mixture of functions including access to a majority of the downtown parking,
customer and service access to the businesses located on the alley and trash
storage and pick -up. After analyzing the alley corridor, talking with City
Staff and other interested parties, the following findings statement has been
developed. Many of the findings' are based on the impressions of the first
time or infrequent user.
7101 York Avenue South
Edina, Minnesota 55435
612 -921 -3303
The entry points to the alley from the street are not readily
apparent. It is easy to confuse some of the other private
driveways for the alley opening.
Brooklyn Park, 612 424 - 8862
The alley is currently a one -way system which only allows entry
from one end of the block. A one -way system is less convenient
than a two -way system but is more space efficient.
The one -way system directs traffic from east to west between 7th
Avenue and 10th Avenue and from west to east between 10th Avenue
and 11th Avenue. This creates more of an annoyance than an opera-
tional problem. The flow between 10th and 11th Avenues was re-
versed when the ramp was built so that traffic would not flow onto
11th Avenue which is predicted to be a major traffic carrier in
the future.
D. The alley openings onto opposite sides of the same avenue are not
directly opposite but rather are offset by approximately 8 feet.
This, again, is more an annoyance and a visually disruptive ele-
ment than a physical problem except on 10th Avenue because offset
access points are more hazardous for two -way traffic than for
one -way traffic.
Alley Improvement Study
May 16, 1989
Page 2
1
Visibility at the intersections of the alleys with the avenues is
quite poor, particularly on the west side of 10th Avenue, due to
parked cars and trucks.
Parking is occurring directly behind the buildings in a very
random pattern creating "trapped" cars, barriers to pedestrians
and visual clutter
Although several one -way signs exist along the alley, the high
number of parking access lanes allow easy wrong -way operation
along the alley. The configuration of Lot #200 particularly
provokes wrong -way operation.
Recommendations
"Monument" the alley entry points from the side streets in some
fashion to create a stronger presence than the private drives.
Due to the limited alley width, the one -way system probably will
need to remain; however, it may be advantageous to correct the two
different directions of the one -way system to improve flow It is
recommended that the flow between 10th Avenue and 7th Avenue be
reversed. Short of reversing - the flow on three blocks, reversing
the flow at least between 9th and 10th Avenues would create a more
balanced flow and put the opposing flow onto 9th Street, which can
handle it better than 10th Avenue.
Although not viewed as a major traffic problem, it is recommended
that the alley access points be more closely aligned opposite each
other to improve flow.
Visibility at the intersections could be improved by removing
parking from the avenues within a certain distance from the alley
opening or by extending the curbs out beyond the line of parking.
The random parking behind the buildings should be eliminated and
either replaced with uniform angle or parallel parking along the
alley or consider it replaced by the parking that will be intro-
duced on Main Street as part of the streetscape renewal.
III. PEDESTRIAN EXPERIENCE
Issues:
A. There are no defined pedestrian walking surfaces in the alley
corridor, creating a random pedestrian pattern. This situation is
probably more inconvenient than a safety issue.
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Alley Improvement Study
May ` 16, 1 989
Page 3
Recommendations:
The alley has a typical swale profile creating a puddle to be
traversed in the spring and after rains.
Walkways should be separated from driving surfaces, clearly
defining the route from parking to business entrances. An east
west pedestrian pattern could also be defined.
A crowned alley profile with curb and gutter should be considered
to eliminate puddles and provide greater definition between driv-
ing and pedestrian surfaces.
Trucks and service vehicles including trash haulers can currently
Pull up to the rear door of any business on the block. Unfortu-
nately, the door is frequently the same one used by customers
While very convenient for loading and unloading, the backing
movements and frequent blocking of the alley create an incompati-
ble situation with customer usage.
Recommendations:
A. Provide for one or two loading zones per block Loads may need to
be "dolleyed" further, but this would alleviate the driver's con -
cern for pedestrians and ensure a space for loading and unloading.
Limiting the time of day that service vehicles may enter the alley
would also alleviate congestion. If possible, the area designated
for service vehicles could be located near the highest volume
users.
B. The trash dumpsters could also all be located in this designated
loading zone. This may be viewed as a hassle for the business
owners but would be a major benefit considering the improved
aesthetic appeal of their entrances. Consolidating trash dump-
sters would be very efficient for the trash hauler and may even
result in lower rates.
V. VISUAL EXPERIENCE
Issues:
The alley presents a very cluttered appearance which discourages
clarity of movement. The major problems are the random parking
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Alley Improvement Study
May 16, 1989
Page 4
behind the buildings, service vehicles, trash dumpsters, and
overhead utilities.
D. The signage at the entrances to the alleys is very utilitarian and
tends to blend into the clutter.
The disrepair of the paved surfaces is very unattractive.
There is an obvious lack of green space and plantings or otherwise
improved areas.
Recommendations:
A. Several of the visual issues could be cleared up by resolving the
physical operations issues mentioned in previous sections, i.e.,
trash dumpsters, random parking, parking and loading. The areas
designated for service could be screened with a wall of brick or
some other material that blends into the alley.
The City is planning to bury the overhead utilities. The City ;may
want to consider replacing the remaining poles and light fixtures
with a more attractive style of lighting.
. An effort should be made to reclaim green space wherever possible
to soften the hardness of the paving and building materials.
D. A single system of uniform signage with greater graphic appeal
would help clarify movement into and, through the alley and reduce
visual clutter.
VI. OPEN SPACE SYSTEM
Issues:
A. The spatial quality of the alley is very undefined, consequently
unappealing. There is little sense of corridor in the alley or
sense of entry to the buildings.
Recommendations:
A. Create a sense of corridor through the alley by defining the edges
with curbing, uniform parking, lighting or planting, etc. Align-
ing the access points to the alley from the side street would also
help achieve a sense of continuity.
B. Create a sense of entry to business by removing as much clutter as
possible, directing pedestrian traffic with walkways and
maximizing green spaces and improved areas. Improvement does not
1
Alley Improvement Study
May 16, 1989
Page 5
VII. DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES
Issues:
Recommendations:
necessarily mean mown grass, but rather any physical treatment
that is intended to improve the appearance, comfort, and appeal o
the entrance to business. Such improvements may include mass
shrub plantings, trees in a grate, flower planters, plaza or
benches, etc.
Mixes use with angle parking (see concept 2)
One row of angle parking (19.5')
One -way alley (15')
Sidewalk (8')
Green /buffer (14.5')
The inherently small scale of the alley precludes the opportunity
for achieving an expansive open space and wide corridor system.
It would be more appropriate to capitalize on the intimacy of the
spaces at the entrances to the buildings, i.e., a series of small,
well - tended spaces.
There are many variations of the functions mentioned in the previ-
ous sections that could be incorporated into the block. These
relate to a one -way alley, parallel, angle or no parking, how much
green space, etc. The average distance between the backs of the
buildings on the alley and the south alley right -of -way is 57
feet. What can be reasonably expected to occur in a cross section
of this space?
The following are a variety of combinations of functions that
achieve varying effects Each is preceded by a summary of the
main emphasis of the particular combinations. Three of these
combinations have been illustrated (see Concepts 1, 2 and 3 at-
tached).
. Emphasis on vehicular movement and parking (see concept 1)
One row of perpendicular parking (19.5')
Two -way alley (24')
Sidewalk (8')
Open space (5.5')
Alley Improvement Study
May 16, 1989
Page 6
Emphasis on parking capacity
Two rows of angle parking (39')
One -way alley (15')
Three -foot sidewalk (too narrow to be functional)
Open space
Emphasis on vehicular movement and open space
No parking
Two -way alley (24')
Sidewalk (8'
Open space (25')
Emphasis on open space amenities (See concept 3)
No parking
One -way alley (15')
Sidewalk (8')
Open space (34')
Emphasis on open space amenities with limited parking
One row of parallel parking (9')
One -way alley (15')
Sidewalk (8')
Open space (25')
7. Mixed use with parallel parking
Two rows of parallel parking (18')
One -way alley (15')
Sidewalk (8')
Open space (16')
The most desirable elements of all the above combinations were
combined to form a composite concept. The composite concept
features a one -way alley with a single row of angle parking
typically on the north side of the alley. Loading areas are
located on only the blocks that presently have a need for them.
Consolidated trash areas are located mid -block on the south side
of the alley. The parking lot between 8th Avenue and 9th Avenue
(#200) has been reconfigured to improve flow. Parking is planned
for the liquor store site.
Alley Improvement Study
May 16, 1989
Page 7
VIII. PARKING ANALYSIS
The following analysis compares the quantity of parking spaces in Con-
cepts 1, 2, 3, the Composite and existing conditions.
Existing Conditions
Concept 1
Concept 2
Concept 3
Composite
All of the concepts including the composite show a reduced number of
spaces from what is existing. The loss of parking space is the price o
the improvements made to traffic flow, trash and loading operations,
pedestrian access and visual appeal.
IX. SUMMARY
After reviewing the options for arranging the alley spaces, some of the
solutions appear to have more merit than others and some problem issues
continue to arise.
The organization of the space in back of the buildings is favored.
Alley Parking Parking Lots Total
127* 179 306
97 148 245
48 156 204
0 189 189
75 177 252
* This number includes only functional spaces with direct access
to a drive lane.
A cooperative program between land owners and the City will be
required.
To achieve desired traffic flow and parking arrangement, not
only public land will be affected.
Angle parking would not be efficient if it could not
straddle lot lines.
Handicapped parking spaces should be located approximately
mid -block for best access, although this may be felt to be a
disadvantage to some businesses.
Loading and trash collection should be unified on each
block.
C. The net quantity of parking spaces will be reduced because cars
will no longer be parked in tandem and "every which way ". The
Loading,
issues
storage and service operations will continue to be
D The desire to create a consistent parking pattern conflicts with
the efficient use of lots with short buildings.
of the spaces will be more appealing and easier to
is favored.
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