Irving Street in Portage could go on a diet soon as the appetite for a new trail increases.
The Redevelopment Commission is planning to add a trail connecting the city’s new downtown, sprouting from the old Portage Mall, to Gilbert Park and Prairie Duneland Trail, as well as the library garden.
The trail would fit within the existing footprint of Irving Street, shrinking the width used for vehicular traffic.
In modern community planning terms, that’s called a road diet. A narrower road slows traffic, improving safety for pedestrians.
Hammond has recently done this with Hohman Avenue downtown, increasing parking, slowing traffic and allowing drivers to get a look at places they might want to stop and shop at along Hohman.
The Irving Street project has been on the RDC’s radar for a few years now, with the likelihood of it happening increasing with each year.
This year, the project is on hold, awaiting the sale of acreage owned by the RDC to fund it. That could happen as soon as later this year.
The older the pavement on Irving gets, the better the timing for the road diet and trail project looks.
The RDC discussed the project on Thursday, ultimately keeping it on hold pending the extra income.
Other studies for potential projects are moving along, however. The RDC approved looking at improvements at U.S. 20 and Samuelson Road for the Kayak Point development, including potentially adding turn lanes to accommodate truck traffic and extending Samuelson north into the property.
“I don’t believe we’re building a roundabout at U.S. 20 and Samuelson,” Mayor Austin Bonta said.
The Kayak Point area could end up with two tenants using separate buildings of about 200,000 to 225,000 square feet each, Redevelopment Director Dan Botich said.
The Kayak Point name derives from a small area being carved out to launch a potential access point on Salt Creek for kayaks and canoes.
Another traffic study is being done in the area along U.S. 6 where Target and BJ’s Warehouse are anchors on either side of Airport Road.
That intersection is one of the most dangerous in the city, Bonta said, even without the additional traffic from the new developments. The traffic study will look at other intersections along U.S. 6 in that area, not just Airport Road.
Developer Simon CRE did a traffic study that didn’t include cross traffic between the two developments, so the RDC is paying for an expanded study of the whole corridor, Assistant Director Sandra McDaniel said.
Portage Township School Board Vice President Wilma Vazquez, a nonvoting member of the RDC, noted the importance of factoring in Portage High School vehicular and pedestrian traffic. PHS sits on the northwest corner of Airport and U.S. 6.
The study will examine “traffic in general, looking at every option,” Botich said. Based on the anticipated traffic volume, the study will recommend what kind of traffic signalization is required there and what speed limits are necessary.
The RDC also approved an agreement for legal descriptions for the purchase of the many pieces of the Portage Mall parking lot and alley, so the RDC can complete the purchase of the necessary land from property owners and define for the future where the individual properties end and the city’s property begins.
Plans call for an alley behind the existing buildings to facilitate deliveries and the construction of a new street in front of them to serve as the genesis of the city’s new downtown.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
