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Council discusses Front Street redesign: parking, green space, utilities burial and resurfacing timing
Summary
Engineering and street staff presented options to reconfigure parking near the H Tower and incorporate the work into a larger Front Street project that could include burying electric lines, ADA access changes and resurfacing; council favored a plan that adds green space and eight parking spaces and asked staff to pursue design details.
City engineering and street staff presented multiple design options for the Front Street/H Tower area May 5, including an angled-parking layout that could add up to 10 spaces, or a parallel-parking plan that would provide eight spaces and create a green space that parks staff want to develop as a riverfront pocket park. Council discussion also covered burying electric lines as part of a coordinated Front Street project and the timing of resurfacing work.
Why it matters: The plan ties several near-term actions — parking reconfiguration, ADA access, sidewalk continuity, utility burial and future resurfacing — into a single Front Street improvement to reduce repeated construction and capture design efficiencies.
Engineering staff said the angled-parking option would provide about 10 spaces including an ADA stall but would require a 3-foot retaining wall and yields concerns about larger vehicles maneuvering in a tight area. The parallel-parking with green-space option would add one net spot (for a total of eight) but would allow a small park area and maintain consistency with existing sidewalks and streetscape. "If we're gonna put hard surface, we might as well be able to park on it," a councilmember said while others emphasized predictability and safety of the parallel option.
Staff recommended incorporating the chosen configuration into the overall Front Street plans so all work could be done at once. Separately, staff said work to bury electric lines along Front Street is awaiting one remaining private easement; once easements and final plans are in place and coordination with Ameren is complete, the city expects to schedule utility burial and resurfacing together. Staff estimated the combined Front Street project could be scheduled as early as 2026 but acknowledged timeline flexibility.
Council and staff discussed ADA parking counts and asked staff to examine whether a second ADA stall could be accommodated near the station building. Staff also noted an approximate $10,000 premium to build the green-space variant rather than staying fully paved and flagged stormwater advantages to reduced pavement in the riverfront area. No ordinance or contract was approved at the workshop; staff will return with supplemental engineering agreements and refined plans if the council directs inclusion of the scope into the Front Street project.
Ending: Council favored further design work and asked staff to advance the preferred option into the Front Street engineering plans so construction can be coordinated with utilities burial and resurfacing.
