Engineering: Projects: Cascade Avenue
Project Contacts
- Reid Wronski, City Engineer,
- rwonski@rfcity.org
Dale Braun, UWRF Campus Planner, dale.k.braun@uwrf.edu
Jeff Abboud, WisDOT Transportation Planner
Buddy Lucero, City Planning Director
Roger Leque, City Police Chief
Dick Trende, UWRF Director of Public Safety
H.L. "Lanny" Gleason, City Public Works Superintendent
Cascade Avenue Concept Planning: Spruce Street to Wasson Lane
On March 23, 2007, the City Council retained Short-Elliott-Hendrickson (SEH) to develop a concept plan for
Cascade Avenue from
Spruce Street to
Wasson Lane . A Technical Committee composed of the following representatives has worked closely with SEH as they gathered public input and developed a recommended concept plan for this corridor.
On Monday, April 30, 2007, Public Meeting #1 was held to identify a list of problems and concerns, develop goals and objectives, and suggest possible improvements and solutions. This meeting brought together many individuals and groups to provide initial input into concept plan development. More than 50 people attended this meeting.
On Monday, September 24, 2007, Public Meeting #2 was held to present various concepts along with some of the positives and negatives associated with the concepts. This meeting included an open house, presentation, group questions, and individual discussions. No specific concept or plan was presented or recommended. More than 30 people attended this meeting.
On Monday, November 26, 2007, Public Meeting #3 was held to discuss the preferred concept developed by the Technical Committee based on the previous public input. Background information developed during the process, including lists of problems and concerns, potential solutions, goals and objectives, and concept evaluations was available at the meeting. Those in attendance were given an opportunity to comment on the preferred concept. This meeting included an open house, presentation, group questions, and individual discussions. More than 80 people attended this meeting.
After this meeting, information outlining the Technical Committee’s preferred concept was discussed on campus radio as well as posted on the Internet, and published in campus and city newspapers. The preferred concept was refined based on some of the comments received at the meeting and submitted online.
The Technical Committee is asking the City Council to accept their recommendation of a preferred Cascade Avenue Concept Plan by adopting a formal resolution. The recommended Concept Plan is outlined in the following section. Copies of the final draft of the Technical Committees full report are available for review in the Engineering Department.
Recommended Concept Summary
Intersection Controls
The final recommendation has roundabouts at three locations,
Wasson Lane ,
6th Street and
2nd Street . The roundabouts will control the speed of traffic, allow freedom of movement from cross street traffic, maintain flow of traffic along
Cascade Avenue , and provide both a design element and a transitioning element for urban design.
A trail system will be provided along all of Cascade Avenue. Recognizing the very heavy pedestrian movement in the area between 6th Street and 2nd Street, the 10-foot trail will still be provided on the south side of Cascade Avenue, but a section of roadway will be provided for bicycle usage. The on-road shoulder lanes for bicycles can be constructed of pervious concrete or permeable pavers system, which will assist in the infiltration of storm water. This shoulder lane will also provide room for disabled vehicles or to clear the through lane for emergency vehicles.
Sidewalks will be reconstructed and reoriented in the corridor. The sidewalks will provide convenient access from the buildings on campus to a series of crossings to be built at existing intersections.
To help ensure that pedestrians are more likely to use the crosswalk locations, a fence will
be incorporated into the landscaping in the median between the crosswalks at 6th Street and 2nd Street except for openings at three intermediate crosswalk locations. The crosswalks will be constructed with permeable pavers or other materials that will provide better and permanent delineation of the crosswalks.
A 10-foot off-road multi-modal pathway will be provided on the south side of the parking area and connect to the pathways west of 6th Street and east of the entrance to the campus. A sidewalk will be provided on the north side of the roadway in this entire section.
The existing intersection with Oak Knoll Avenue will be eliminated and Oak Knoll will be connected to Hillcrest Street. There will continue to be a sidewalk section between Oak Knoll Avenue and Cascade Avenue. The access point from the east end of the service road, which is also an access onto the campus, will be modified so there is significantly more distance between the service road and Cascade Avenue. This section will be heavily landscaped and a fence will probably be constructed between the Cascade Avenue roadway and the parking area, partially because of the anticipated elevation difference.
Parking Recommendations
To compensate for the removal, the parking lots west of North Hall between 2nd Street, 3rd Street, Cascade Avenue, and Spring Street are proposed to be reconstructed as a single efficient lot. 3rd Street would be vacated and the lot would be expanded into the right-of- way.
To resolve some of the parking concerns and also to provide more efficient utilization of the service road on the south side of Cascade Avenue east of 6th Street, the service road was converted from a two- lane roadway with no parking to a one-way roadway with angle parking on the north side. The road would be wide enough to still accommodate a loading and unloading zone on the south side of the street.
Under existing conditions, the number of vehicles parked in the areas impacted by the concept include 232 on-street and 221 off-street spaces for a total of 453. In the recommended concept, these are replaced by 42 on-street and 403 off-street spaces for a total of 451 or a net loss of 2 spaces. However, the number of on-street spaces interfering with traffic was reduced from 232 to 48.
The concept therefore provides virtually the same number of parking spaces but removes a number of those which are hazardous and places them in a better defined parking area. An initial benefit of the two parking areas verses on-street parking is that the amount of traffic circulating in the core area of the campus should be reduced and replaced by vehicles proceeding directly to the parking lots. Access to both of the parking areas is possible without accessing Cascade Avenue between 2nd Street and 6th Street.
Landscaping
The specific poles and luminaries will be selected in the design process. They should fit with the landscaping theme, provide “full cutoff”, be easy to maintain and economical in terms of both initial and life cycle costs.
Spruce to 6th Street
The section between 2nd Street and 6th Street would consist of a single lane in each direction with a wider median. The median would be continuous between 2nd Street and 6th Street except for an eastbound left turn lane to access a new parking area at approximately the existing 3rd Street intersection. The alignment of Cascade Avenue will be 
curvilinear in nature. The curvilinear alignment, the wider median, and the roundabouts will provide a very campus-like parkway design for the roadway. No parking will be allowed on Cascade Avenue between 6th Street and 2nd Street.
curvilinear in nature. The curvilinear alignment, the wider median, and the roundabouts will provide a very campus-like parkway design for the roadway. No parking will be allowed on Cascade Avenue between 6th Street and 2nd Street. A trail system will be provided along all of Cascade Avenue. Recognizing the very heavy pedestrian movement in the area between 6th Street and 2nd Street, the 10-foot trail will still be provided on the south side of Cascade Avenue, but a section of roadway will be provided for bicycle usage. The on-road shoulder lanes for bicycles can be constructed of pervious concrete or permeable pavers system, which will assist in the infiltration of storm water. This shoulder lane will also provide room for disabled vehicles or to clear the through lane for emergency vehicles.
Sidewalks will be reconstructed and reoriented in the corridor. The sidewalks will provide convenient access from the buildings on campus to a series of crossings to be built at existing intersections.
To help ensure that pedestrians are more likely to use the crosswalk locations, a fence will
be incorporated into the landscaping in the median between the crosswalks at 6th Street and 2nd Street except for openings at three intermediate crosswalk locations. The crosswalks will be constructed with permeable pavers or other materials that will provide better and permanent delineation of the crosswalks. 6th Street to Wasson Lane
The section of Cascade Avenue between 6th Street and Wasson Lane will be modified significantly. The overall concept is continued with a median section wide enough for landscaping through most of the area. The median will have left turn lanes at several intersections. The existing service road will be incorporated into the design and will become one-way eastbound with angled parking on the north side and enough room for a loading and unloading area on the south side. Access will be via an entrance from the eastbound roadway just east of the 6th Street roundabout. No parking will be allowed on the eastbound roadway. A parking bay will be established from west of Birchcrest Lane to east of 6th Street. 
A 10-foot off-road multi-modal pathway will be provided on the south side of the parking area and connect to the pathways west of 6th Street and east of the entrance to the campus. A sidewalk will be provided on the north side of the roadway in this entire section.
The existing intersection with Oak Knoll Avenue will be eliminated and Oak Knoll will be connected to Hillcrest Street. There will continue to be a sidewalk section between Oak Knoll Avenue and Cascade Avenue. The access point from the east end of the service road, which is also an access onto the campus, will be modified so there is significantly more distance between the service road and Cascade Avenue. This section will be heavily landscaped and a fence will probably be constructed between the Cascade Avenue roadway and the parking area, partially because of the anticipated elevation difference.
Parking Recommendations
When a final concept was developed, parking was eliminated on Cascade Avenue from 2nd Street to 6th Street. Parking was also eliminated on the south side of Cascade Avenue from 6th Street east. Some parking was removed on the north side of Cascade Avenue east of Crescent Lane. The removal of Oak Knoll Avenue between Hillcrest Street and Cascade Avenue eliminated 6 parking spaces on that street. The vacation of 3rd Street between Cascade Avenue and Spring Street resulted in the removal of parking spaces.
To compensate for the removal, the parking lots west of North Hall between 2nd Street, 3rd Street, Cascade Avenue, and Spring Street are proposed to be reconstructed as a single efficient lot. 3rd Street would be vacated and the lot would be expanded into the right-of- way.
To resolve some of the parking concerns and also to provide more efficient utilization of the service road on the south side of Cascade Avenue east of 6th Street, the service road was converted from a two- lane roadway with no parking to a one-way roadway with angle parking on the north side. The road would be wide enough to still accommodate a loading and unloading zone on the south side of the street. Under existing conditions, the number of vehicles parked in the areas impacted by the concept include 232 on-street and 221 off-street spaces for a total of 453. In the recommended concept, these are replaced by 42 on-street and 403 off-street spaces for a total of 451 or a net loss of 2 spaces. However, the number of on-street spaces interfering with traffic was reduced from 232 to 48.
The concept therefore provides virtually the same number of parking spaces but removes a number of those which are hazardous and places them in a better defined parking area. An initial benefit of the two parking areas verses on-street parking is that the amount of traffic circulating in the core area of the campus should be reduced and replaced by vehicles proceeding directly to the parking lots. Access to both of the parking areas is possible without accessing Cascade Avenue between 2nd Street and 6th Street.
Landscaping
Landscaping within the right-of-way of a prominent city street such as Cascade Avenue plays an important role in both traffic calming and the aesthetic character of the corridor. The 
general landscape concept for the corridor was inspired by the structure, colors, and textures found on the UW-RF campus as well as streetscape elements found along Main Street. The plan shows three distinct landscape design segments along Cascade Avenue from a more informal landscape design on the eastern end of the corridor near Cascade Avenue and Wasson Lane to one that is more semi-formal in nature at the western end of the corridor at Cascade Avenue and 2nd Street. The central segment of the corridor within the heart of the historic section of the campus near North Hall calls for a landscape design that is more formal and serves as the thoroughfare’s “aesthetic hallmark”. The landscaping plan presented in the concept plan reflects a possible and desirable level of landscaping for the corridor. As there are significant costs associated with various degrees of landscaping, the implementation of such landscaping may need to be staged and may be influenced by the ability of various stake holders to participate in the cost of such landscaping.
general landscape concept for the corridor was inspired by the structure, colors, and textures found on the UW-RF campus as well as streetscape elements found along Main Street. The plan shows three distinct landscape design segments along Cascade Avenue from a more informal landscape design on the eastern end of the corridor near Cascade Avenue and Wasson Lane to one that is more semi-formal in nature at the western end of the corridor at Cascade Avenue and 2nd Street. The central segment of the corridor within the heart of the historic section of the campus near North Hall calls for a landscape design that is more formal and serves as the thoroughfare’s “aesthetic hallmark”. The landscaping plan presented in the concept plan reflects a possible and desirable level of landscaping for the corridor. As there are significant costs associated with various degrees of landscaping, the implementation of such landscaping may need to be staged and may be influenced by the ability of various stake holders to participate in the cost of such landscaping. Lighting
The general concept is to provide adequate lighting levels along the entire corridor. Lighting at the roundabouts and at all the pedestrian crossings needs to provide area illumination to insure that pedestrians and vehicles will be seen. Adequate levels of light along the sidewalks and trails needs to be uniform coming from street lighting or separate pedestrian level lighting.
The specific poles and luminaries will be selected in the design process. They should fit with the landscaping theme, provide “full cutoff”, be easy to maintain and economical in terms of both initial and life cycle costs.
Utility Considerations
Updating public and private utilities will be a significant consideration in the reconstruction of Cascade Avenue. Age, physical condition, capacity, and past problems are all important in evaluating the need to repair or replace both public and private utilities. Early and continual communication with the utility companies during design and construction is essential for a smooth project.Costs and Potential Funding Sources
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Description
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|
|
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Sanitary Sewer Utility
|
$ 300,000
|
$ 500,000
|
|
Water Utility
|
$ 400,000
|
$ 600,000
|
|
Electric Utility
|
$ 150,000
|
$ 300,000
|
|
Storm Water Utility
|
$ 250,000
|
$ 500,000
|
|
WisDOT
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$ 2,000,000
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$ 3,000,000
|
|
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$ 700,000
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$ 3,000,000
|
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City
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$ 600,000
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$1,000,000
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|
Assessments
|
$ 100,000
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$ 400,000
|
|
Total
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$ 5,000,000
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$ 8,400,000
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*Estimated Costs Reflect 2008 Dollars
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