A streetscape plan for Bank Street in downtown Batavia is gradually coming to fruition, albeit with fewer carbs than what was originally on the menu, City Manager Rachael Tabelski says.
The “traffic calming and streetscape enhancements” that have been studied, surveyed, and even laid out visually for folks to check out more than a year ago along the section of Bank Street between Main Street and Alva Place have gone out for bid, with the lowest coming in at just over $1.1 million, Tabelski said during this week’s City Council meeting.
“Because of the cost measures, it’s very pared back. There will be curbing; I call it a road diet. There will be turning lanes as well,” Tabelski said. “As many of you are aware, the city was awarded a TAP grant to make improvements along Bank Street from Washington to Main. After public input, design and engineering, the project has been bid, the bidder was Keeler Construction. The TAP grant will pay $945,000 roughly, and the city can use CHIPs money for the remainder of the project for $548,000.
“The split is about $371,000 of engineering, $1.12 million of construction. This is a bit higher than we anticipated when we got the estimates for the project three and a half years ago. So we will be using more CHIPs funding than we originally anticipated,” she said. “We really don't want to delay this project in any way because with the police station finishing up, the YMCA finished, we want to get in there and do that sidewalk streetscape project to kind of finish that block. So we are recommending to move this forward.”
Keeler Construction Company of Albion's bid was $1,121,391.
Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. asked about the original plans that included a crosswalk “in a weird location” that would have required pedestrians to cross twice to get across the street.
“So I’m just curious how they solved it?” he said.
“So we did a lot of deep dives into mid-block crossing. And if you think about any around the city, it's really the only place that has a crosswalk mid-block. This actually can be more dangerous to pedestrians and drivers because when you're on Jackson Street and I park my car and I'm going to go over to Bourbon and Burger, I wait and watch so it's clear and I cross to the store I'm going to,” Tabelski said. “So there was a lot of back and forth between public safety mid-block crossings and a crosswalk. So we will retain one crosswalk, and we will also, like I said, through the curb cut shrink the size of the street so cars will naturally have to go slower, and it will feel safer to make that mid-block crossing at any of the points across that street itself.”
The enhancements will include bump outs, curb extensions, bike lanes, re-striped lanes and on-street parking, new ADA-compliant sidewalks, and decorative crosswalks, according to a memo to council from Public Works Director Tom Phelps.
The bid is to go for a council vote during a future business meeting.
