Business owners on two east-west one-way streets in Davenport disagree with the downtown Davenport Chamber of Commerce’s assertion that switching to two-way traffic will boost business.
At Sweet Delight, 1901 W 4th St., stickers, buttons and claims against conversion are available for customers to pick up or sign.
The current ice cream owners don’t want 3rd and 4th streets to change. Whatever the city plans to do, but not two-way traffic, they welcome revitalization. Unit owner Alan Goucher said they were concerned about the change’s impact on pedestrian safety, confusion with a new system, updating signage and making it difficult for customers to stop.
“If you do that and it’s a problem, people might take other routes and not go down this road,” Goacher said.
People are also reading…
Aldermen are still considering converting 3rd and 4th streets to two-way, and if so, how many city blocks to convert. Sweet Delight is outside of the Downtown Davenport Partnership’s original proposal, which included a two-way interchange at Market Street.
The partnership and some business owners and city leaders have promoted the change for years to make Davenport more inviting to businesses and pedestrians, and recently proposed that the city do it at the same time the city plans to complete a separate revitalization project. 3rd and 4th Streets – Budgeted for 2024 – to save time and cost.
Sweet Delight, owned and operated by Bruce, Jan and their son Alan Goucher for more than a decade, isn’t the only business where owners resist change. The governors estimate they have submitted more than a dozen petitions to various businesses since last week, which have garnered hundreds of customer signatures. They plan to bring it to the city, and participate in the final voice meeting to protest.
Among their concerns, the Sweet Delight sign only faces westbound traffic, Alan Goucher said, and replacing a double-sided sign would be expensive.
Sweet Delight gets about five truckloads a week. The vehicles occupy a lane of traffic on 4th Street to unload, but with three other lanes, cars have room to turn around or park at their shops.
With fewer lanes, Goaker said he worries trucks will block traffic on 4th Street, the narrow side street or into the Sweet Delight parking lot.
A recent Davenport city staff report outlined the challenges that downtown businesses will face if the city switches to two-way traffic. Stopping in a lane of traffic can cause collisions, delays, and affect emergency response times. Similarly, highways are narrow and have less space for loading zones than landfills, the report says.
The solution: If the city is going to move forward with change, a city report recommends creating targeted loading zones to keep trucks from competing for parking. The zones are subject to change from on-street parking lots. But the staff recommends that businesses conduct a separate survey of when and how many deliveries they receive to identify where those zones should be.
The report also estimated costs for three options where the city would end the interchange — at Market Street, Class Street, or Telegraph Road. These options range from $1.6 million to $3.25 million.
Davenport’s partnership will be increased by $700,000. Partnership Director Kyle Carter said he would have to discuss with the board whether the city is willing to fulfill its promise if it decides to turn more city blocks into two-way streets.
The Downtown Davenport Partnership’s special taxing district stretches from River Drive to Brown Street. Businesses in the district pay additional taxes to fund the partnership to improve downtown.
Although the partnership doesn’t technically represent the western-most businesses on 3rd and 4th streets, Carter said the change could benefit them.
“As we’ve talked about for the downtown core, if the traffic pattern fits the type of development that they want, I think it’s more likely that we’ll see more businesses located west of downtown and those neighborhoods.” Carter said. “These are neighborhoods. You don’t build neighborhood businesses with fast-moving traffic.”
Owners of Rudy’s Tacos on West 4th Street and Bruce’s New and Used Furniture also share concerns with the sheep that the city will spend taxpayer money on two-way diversions and not see the benefits.
Other businesses are prepared in any way. Adrian Carrillo, owner of Abarotus Carrillo, translating with his daughter Rosa Carrillo, said he didn’t think the business would have a one-way or two-way problem. The Mexican restaurant and market on West 3rd Street has a loading dock in the back, and doesn’t need to take loads off the street. Parking, however, can be more challenging with two-way traffic, he said.
The report, written by the city, said the city should not allow businesses to pile cars into travel lanes, as is sometimes the case at Redband Coffee, 329 E 4th St. “Whatever the city decides will be fine,” owner Rick Cook wrote in an email. to work.”
“Whether it’s one-way traffic or two-way traffic on 3rd and 4th streets. Redband is currently working on a plan that works well with both traffic patterns,” Cook wrote, adding that he was working on specifics with city officials.
Other business owners want the change. Gwendolyn Lee, owner of RubberStamps.net and Endless Brews, both downtown, said she wishes it could “happen tomorrow.”
“Carrying in a flood or any kind of special event,” Lee said. “There are so many studies that have gone to show more property values, increased walking, decreased crime. I think the evidence is already out there in all cases.”
