Functionality and beauty highlight Springdale’s new Streetscape Plan

Springdale is getting a new Streetscape Plan with recommendations from residents and the consulting firm of Kimley-Horn, Springdale, Utah, unspecified date | Photo by Stephanie DeGraw, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Springdale is cooking up a recipe that blends functionality with beauty to create a new Streetscape Plan. 

File photo of an aerial view of Springdale, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Lochner engineering firm and courtesy of the Zion Regional Collaborative, St. George News

The consulting firm of Kimley-Horn will make recommendations on which ingredients to add at the end of October. Up until then, residents are encouraged to provide final input on the plan through the online survey or email.

“The Springdale General Plan really places emphasis on the town’s visual character,” said Tom Dansie, Springdale director of community development. “And we want the town to complement the natural surroundings, to be consistent with the appearance of Zion National Park and to promote the town’s village character.”

Rebeca Field, who serves as a Kimley-Horn project manager and registered architect, said preliminary findings show that residents support adding more amenities to public spaces. Based on this feedback, the firm wants to continue adding features like the stone benches, monument signs and bike racks that Springdale already has installed.

“That’s great news that there’s a lot of really good positive elements already out there,” Field said. 

But there is no determination about how many of these recommendations Springdale will include in the plan. Field said her firm is beginning to focus its attention on what the town wants.

Planters outside side the Bumbleberry Bakery and Gift Shop, Springdale, Utah, June 22, 2022 | Photo by Stephanie DeGraw, St. George News

Over the last few years, Dansie said the town had improved downtown by completing a parking study, a signage and wayfinding plan and traffic and active transportation plan. There was a public open house and a proposed concept display earlier in September.

Additionally, the consulting firm has met with different stakeholders in the community to secure their input and has been studying the survey results.

The proposed Streetscape Plan builds on the work that the Utah Department of Transportation completed in partnership with the town in 2017 and 2018. Dansie said during the rebuild of state Route 9 through town, the Utah Department of Transportation facilitated many projects to improve the appearance of the street.

“We put in wider sidewalks and we buried the overhead power lines that used to run through the center of town,” Dansie said. “A lot of effort went into enhancing the town’s streetscape, and we implemented some design features in the sidewalks. We made a big effort to make the street a nicer place to be and more inviting to pedestrians.”

Besides the visual improvements, Dansie said the town is looking at how to improve functionality and safety on the main thoroughfare. From a functionality standpoint, Springdale is considering ways to shade sidewalks to make them more comfortable for pedestrians during hot months, which could be facilitated through vegetation, landscape or artificial shade structures.

Dansie said there also could be cooling features, such as misters or water features.

For safety enhancements, the plan will focus on the many crosswalks in the town. Dansie said one of the unique things about Springdale is there are no stoplights or stop signs on the main road through town. He said getting people from one side of the street to the other is challenging due to the high traffic volume during peak visitation. 

“We have a number of crosswalks, but because there are no stoplights or stop signs, sometimes it’s difficult for cars to recognize those crosswalks,” Dansie said. “So, we’re looking at ways to make those crosswalks more noticeable and safer.”

Some items considered to enhance safety include flags, pavement markings, lights and more signage.

“All these things are options that we’re looking at again,” Dansie said. “We want to make it safe, and we want to make it noticeable. At the same time, we want to retain the town’s character.”

The cost to implement the consulting firm recommendations for the Streetscape Plan will be determined once the plan is finalized. Dansie said some items could be completed relatively inexpensively, such as changing pavement markings to making the crosswalks more noticeable.

But if significant renovations to the sidewalks or adding shading or planters are recommended, that would be more expensive. 

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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