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BYU students present North Park ideas: denser housing, bike boulevards and river-trail activation
Summary
BYU students working with Provo City planners presented a community-informed vision for North Park that includes reduced lot-size options and density bonuses to encourage three-bedroom family units, two candidate bike boulevards (100 West and 300 West), and a defined River Trail access at Columbia Lane; staff said the student project is not a city plan but will be shared with city council.
Sienna Morgan, a planner with Provo City, opened a presentation of a BYU studio that studied North Park and emphasized the work is a student project, not a city plan. The students, led in class by Professor Jamie Rowan, presented maps dividing North Park into three focus areas and invited residents to complete a QR or paper survey with feedback.
Student presenters recommended zoning changes and incentives to expand affordable family housing. A presenter said reducing minimum lot sizes and offering a density bonus would make three-bedroom multi-family units more feasible for families, noting a neighborhood survey showed residents most value schools, libraries and public spaces. "If we change the residential conservation zone to what is currently being used there," a student said, "we could have more incentive to reinvest in that zone." Planning staff clarified that the student recommendations are proposals for community discussion, not actions the city will implement without further process.
On transportation, students proposed two bike-boulevard routes to improve active-transport connectivity: one along 100 West to link the university to existing bike lanes, and an alternative along 300 West to extend a recommended boulevard toward 500 North and Cooper Boulevard. Presenters said safety measures could include brighter pavement markings, high-intensity activated crosswalks and traffic-calming treatments at key intersections (500 North with 100 West and 600 West).
For the Provo River Trail, students proposed activating the corridor with small-scale recreational features (amphitheaters, exercise stations, child-friendly play elements), daily market spaces, and a more defined Columbia Lane access point that would continue the protected bike lane into the trail. Attendees suggested simple, low-cost amenities (play elements, musical pipes, tire swings) used in other cities to increase family use.
Presenters solicited additional input and offered both paper and digital surveys. Planning staff encouraged attendees to provide written feedback before the students present the work to Provo City Council, and noted the city will consider community input when building on the students' ideas.
