Downtown Plymouth is closing in on a $40 million makeover aimed at reshaping Main Street, expanding pedestrian space and modernizing the city’s core over the next seven years.
The DTP Forward plan, presented May 20 during the project’s third and final open house, caps nearly a year of planning and public engagement focused on the future of the downtown area.
“The last streetscape design was done in the mid ’90s,” DDA Director Sam Plymale said. “Downtown has changed dramatically. Pedestrian behaviors have changed dramatically. We need the downtown infrastructure to reflect that, and reflect the changes for pedestrian safety, supporting the business community and just making it better.”
Plymale said downtown had only a handful of restaurants open past early evening in the 1990s. Today, he noted, the number is closer to 25 or 30, bringing more pedestrian traffic, more demand for outdoor seating and new transportation issues, including scooters and e-bikes.
Six project areas planned
The plan is divided into six project sets organized by geographic area, allowing the city and DDA to phase construction and pursue funding in stages.
The broader plan calls for changes throughout downtown Plymouth: widened sidewalks, new trees, landscaped bump-outs, upgraded crosswalks, traffic-calming measures and changes to parking and street layouts aimed at improving pedestrian safety and accessibility.
A conceptual timeline presented during the meeting showed the six project sets potentially unfolding over seven years, depending on grant funding and other financial support.
Main Street, Kellogg Park at center of proposal
The centerpiece of the proposal comes with a price tag of nearly $20 million – about half the cost of the overall plan – and focuses on Main Street and the blocks surrounding Kellogg Park.
That part of the plan would reduce the number of traffic lanes in some areas, widen sidewalks, add landscaping and on-street parking, create shared-use pathways for pedestrians and bicyclists and introduce curbless festival-friendly spaces with retractable bollards designed to make street closures for downtown events easier.
The DDA is working with planning and design firm SmithGroup to develop the DTP Forward proposal.
“This is really the biggest transformational opportunity to rethink the way the streets are working,” SmithGroup planner Oliver Kiley said. “(We) got a lot of comments from folks over the last several months about how the north and south sections of Main Street don’t really have the same kind of vibe and feel and energy as the rest of downtown does.”
Kiley said the redesign would create more space for landscaping, parking and pedestrians while making the streets surrounding Kellogg Park more flexible and better equipped to handle the downtown’s frequent events, street closures and foot traffic.
Although the plan calls for parking reductions in some areas, Kiley said the end result could add about 50 to 85 on-street parking spaces downtown by adding parking to streets where it does not currently exist.
Funding still uncertain
Funding for the project is not yet secured and would likely rely on a combination of DDA revenue, city road and infrastructure funds, bonds and competitive state and federal grants pursued over multiple years.
“I would anticipate us needing to hire some professional grant writers if we’re going after these federal grants that are millions of dollars,” Plymale said. “We’re going to need some assistance.”
Crowdfunding, sponsorships and memorial-style brick campaigns were also noted during the presentation as potential funding sources.
Plymale said the DDA could potentially support roughly $400,000 to $500,000 annually through bonding and has been setting aside funds for future streetscape improvements, which could help serve as local matching dollars for larger grant applications.
Residents praise vision, raise concerns
The plan grew out of nearly a year of public engagement, including open houses, surveys, stakeholder meetings, pop-up events and presentations to community groups.
Some residents at the May 20 meeting praised the plan but voiced concerns about accessibility, construction disruption, the condition of downtown restrooms, the future of the parking deck and connections to Old Village and Hines Park.
Kathy Clark, who lives on Union Street, said parked cars already make it difficult to see oncoming traffic on Church Street and worries the redesign could worsen the problem.
“I don’t think putting in those bump-outs is going to make it any safer for me trying to make my turn,” she said.
Cindy Eckley, who owns Frame Works, a Penniman Avenue business that flooded last year, said she was especially interested in the landscaping and stormwater portions of the plan.
“I would say more trees, more plantings that also will help with the storm water,” she said.
What happens next
Plymale said the seven-year conceptual timeline does not mean the entire downtown would be under construction at once.
“Having the entire downtown torn up all at the same time is a nightmare because you’re going to lose access to parking areas,” he said. “So I think if we’re strategic about biting off pieces at a time, yes, it will be disruptive to those businesses, but I think that you can make detouring where it doesn’t become a huge traffic issue and you don’t cut off parking access to the entire downtown.”
The first project could come as soon as next year on Harvey and Wing streets, where road resurfacing funds are already identified.
Plymale said the DDA has money in its fund balance and next budget to help support that work and is seeking grant funding for planning and engineering.
The Main Street work would likely take longer because of the cost, engineering and grant applications involved.
The DDA board is expected to consider accepting the final DTP Forward materials as soon as its June 8 meeting.
“This is an opportunity to have a transformative project that respects and keeps the character of the downtown and the city that everybody loves,” Plymale said.
The full DTP Forward presentation is available on the DDA’s website.
Contact reporter Laura Colvin: lcolvin@hometownlife.com
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Plymouth’s downtown to see $40 million makeover. What is changing
Reporting by Laura Colvin, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
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