Statistics, Input and Ideas
Sections 1, 2, and 3:
I would like to see some statistics regarding the reduction of lanes from 4 to 3 to allow for widening of sidewalks. During the Rush hours, weekends, the summer or any events the existing 4 lanes are barely able to keep up with traffic.
I believe that the power lines need to be buried to allow for a more reliable and maintainable service to the homes and businesses in the area. In addition to burying the cables it will provide a more modernized entrance.
Sections 4, 5 and 6:
Narrowing of lanes to the Docks is will be nothing but problematic for anyone trying to traverse the area with a boat or vehicle of any size. Too much tourism is based off of naval activities and making it a problematic traversal will, I am sure, cause tourists to choose other areas for travel.
Even as a driver traversing down a narrower road with parking on all sides is problematic due to the restricted ability for movement. Doing so will cause a claustrophobic feel for the downtown core.
Why not leave the parking as is? Parallel parking is unlikely to clean up or significantly expand the parking capacity on the street. On section 4, regarding the grade of the hill, combined with a narrower road capacity will prove to be very difficult for most drivers to navigate causing delays in traffic as people try to park.
As you get closer to section 6, which is of course closer to the docks, narrowing the road will only enhance the congestion that is consistently there during the summer months, due to once again restricted maneuverability.
The combined design addresses my issues with sections 5 and 6 (enhanced lanes) but still restricts maneuverability in section 4. There should still be a requirement for the cables to be buried to clean up all sections in the designs.
Sections 7 and 8:
Both of these sections have a large amounts of unused space. The current designs seem to address the unused capacity well, but what is the size of the "narrowed" road in the design? Currently the road is over sized (or enhanced) so is narrowing simply designing the road to be of a "normalized" width? Are the designs bringing the road width to something as narrow as section 4 would need to be to accommodate 2 sides of parking?