Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 27, 1994 TAG: 9407270070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Those are the conclusions of a four-month study that recommends road improvements, a traffic diversion program and quicker access to the civic center's parking lot to cope with major events at the civic center complex.
The $13,600 study by Wilbur Smith Associates of Richmond was unveiled at a joint meeting of the commissions that oversee the civic center and hotel and conference center on Tuesday.
Before redevelopment efforts began at the hotel, its lots were used as overflow parking for the civic center. Those spaces have since disappeared to construction and will be dedicated to the hotel and conference center when it opens next spring.
City officials, fearing even worse traffic and parking problems after the hotel's opening, commissioned the parking and traffic survey for both facilities.
It found parking and traffic flow will be adequate for the hotel and conference center. But while the civic center's parking and traffic woes aren't insurmountable, solving them will cost money, said Thomas E. Flynn, a Wilbur Associates vice president.
The study estimates that 3,667 parking spaces are needed for concerts and sporting events that draw capacity crowds of 11,000 people on weekends.
But only 2,496 parking spaces are available at the center or within walking distance. Thus, 1,171 more are needed, Flynn said. The shortage is less pronounced when crowds number 8,500 people, and there is no shortage for attractions that draw 3,000 or fewer.
"We're OK on smaller [events], we're somewhat over [capacity] on major events, and we're substantially over on capacity events," he said.
Meanwhile, traffic trying to enter the facility frequently backs up in both directions on Interstate 581, Orange Avenue and Williamson Road, the study found.
Among the recommendations:
Add one entrance at the rear of the civic center and increase the number of total entrance lanes from five to eight. That would get traffic off feeder roads more quickly.
Consider leasing space in a 445-space parking lot and a 623-space garage that are 1,500 and 4,200 feet away from the civic center, respectively. Shuttle buses could serve motorists who park there.
Install a $77,000 system of portable and stationary signs to better manage traffic flow to the civic center. For instance, westbound traffic on Orange Avenue that now turns left onto southbound Williamson Road could be diverted onto Kimball Avenue and then north on Williamson.
And some traffic could be diverted off Orange onto southbound Gainsboro Road and into a back exit now used only for cars leaving the civic center lot.
Add a lane to Orange Avenue between the northbound I-581 exit ramp and Williamson Road. That would cost $300,000 and ease backups on I-581.
Flynn specifically recommended against building parking garages on the civic center lot. They would cost too much money and not pay for themselves, he said.
Reaction to the proposals was mixed.
Civic Center Commission Chairman Vern Danielsen said they might work in the short run, but he doubts they will far into the future.
Others, including City Councilman Mac McCadden, voiced fears that the plan would channel more traffic and parking into nearby historic Gainsboro. The community already has been drastically affected by the hotel project and new roads that will serve it.
"They're just filling the lot faster and attracting more people to our neighborhood," said Gainsboro resident and Civic Center Commission member Melinda Payne. "I wasn't too impressed with the report. We still need to do a lot more work."
by CNB