City reviews $1.5 million concept for McAllen Street plaza, one‑way traffic and decking in downtown

Consultants from Ardura (formerly Gunda) and Kimley‑Horn presented a conceptual design for McAllen Street in downtown Montgomery that would convert the block to one‑way traffic, add a traffic‑calming pedestrian plaza in the middle of the roadway and build a raised storefront deck along one side to create continuous pedestrian space.

Sharath Venablei, representing Ardura, and Jim Patterson, an architect with Kimley‑Horn, described the plan as conceptual and noted prior attempts to route a loop through a privately owned parking lot had been unsuccessful. The design proposes a 14‑foot one‑way drive lane through the plaza with angled head‑in parking on the north and south ends, seat walls and benches that double as safety barriers, bollards at plaza edges, textured paving in the plaza and furnishings that would support everyday seating and temporary festival closures.

Patterson detailed a raised deck on the west side of the street to connect storefronts that currently sit several feet above street grade. He said the deck…