What would a redesign of Edgewood look like?

Existing roadway conditions along Edgewood feature four 12’-wide vehicle lanes, two 18’-wide diagonal parking lanes and two 6’-wide sidewalks. Sketch and Modeling: Ledia Durmishaj and Ennis Davis.

As shown in the image below: Edgewood could be reconfigured to include two 11’-wide vehicle lanes, two 7’-wide bike lanes buffered from adjacent vehicular lanes, a 12’-wide center median, two 18’-wide parking lanes and two 6’-wide sidewalks. As on-street parking is an important asset to both businesses and customers along Edgewood, this depiction keeps existing parking facilities intact while adding safe accommodations for bicyclists and enhancing pedestrian safety by eliminating unprotected, mid-block crossings.

A cross-section depiction of a business and neighborhood-friendly ‘right-sized’ Edgewood Avenue. Sketch and Modeling: Ledia Durmishaj and Ennis Davis.

Another alternative (shown below) would be to reconfigure Edgewood keeping the two 11’-wide vehicle lanes, two 7’-wide bike lanes and 12’-wide center median mentioned above, but to widen sidewalks along both sides of the street to 15’-wide to enhance outdoor seating opportunities, while slightly modifying on-street parking facilities- replacing angled parking with 8’-wide parallel parking stalls along both sides of the street.

A cross-section depiction of a business and neighborhood-friendly ‘right-sized’ Edgewood Avenue, featuring an extended sidewalk with enhanced outdoor seating areas. Sketch and Modeling: Ledia Durmishaj and Ennis Davis.

What are the benefits to a reconfiguration of Edgewood?

A good example of the kinds of positive results that could be expected from a redesign of Edgewood Avenue would be to examine the success of the Lancaster Blvd (now named ‘ BLVD’) road diet in Lancaster, CA. Edgewood Avenue and Lancaster Blvd share remarkably similar land use characteristics and a strikingly comparable quantity of building stock, building height and massing. However, the surrounding socioeconomic characteristics in Murray Hill when compared to the demographic profile of downtown Lancaster suggest that an Edgewood reconfiguration represents an even greater opportunity to effect a positive economic impact than ever existed within Lancaster.

According to the latest US Census data, Lancaster has a population density of 1,656 people per square mile. The Murray Hill neighborhood in Jacksonville has a population density of about 5,671 people per square mile, while the adjoining Riverside/Avondale neighborhoods have a population density of about 7,057 people per square mile.

Downtown Lancaster was platted by the Southern Pacific Railroad in the late nineteenth century as a simple grid of streets, much like many other California railroad towns. Over the next century, Lancaster became a sprawling suburb with Lancaster Boulevard serving as its Main Street. During this time the City lost much of its traditional downtown character. The nine-block stretch known as the Boulevard (BLVD) suffered from high-speed traffic, poor pedestrian facilities, excessive parking and reduced retail activity. Murray Hill’s history is intertwined with rail as well, having served as a streetcar suburb to the nearby rail terminal in Lackawanna. The First Block of Edgewood terminates at the CSX A-line railroad tracks, and historically served as the terminus for Jacksonville’s former streetcar system.

In 2008, the City of Lancaster retained retained Moule & Polyzoides to redesign the Boulevard’s streetscape. The Moule & Polyzoides vision focused on establishing a new image for downtown Lancaster. It is centered on reconfiguring the Boulevard into a rambla and designing adjacent streets, plazas, paseos to generate a superior public realm.

‘Ramblas’ feature a hardscape promenade with a double row of trees, occupied by angled parking most of the time and periodically a public market and other special events. The ramblas feature highly visible and well marked crosswalk plazas, providing pedestrians a safe refuge in between on-street parking facilities that also produce a convenient series of replicating sidewalk grids between stretches of long blocks.

On the left: A scene from Lancaster Blvd. On the right: The First Block of Edgewood Ave.

Jacksonville’s Edgewood Avenue was originally designed to be a boulevard with a wide landscaped median. The landscaped median was never installed. Along the First Block, two travel lanes were eliminated to include a modified version of a rambla (without the crosswalk plazas typically found in modern-day rambla designs). The similar physical characteristics of both Lancaster and Edgewood, along with Edgewood’s partial modification from its original design, provides comparable evidence that a similar lane reduction coupled with some type of center facility (be it a landscaped median or a rambla featuring on-street parking and mid-block pedestrian islands) could be a component of an Edgewood makeover.

On the left: A scene from the mid-block area of Lancaster Blvd. On the right: A scene from the Mid Block area identified on page 1 of this article along Edgewood Ave.

Other key elements of the BLVD redesign include wide, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, awnings and arcades, fewer travel lanes, enhanced crosswalks, abundant street trees and shading, and added lighting, gateways and public art.

Since reconstruction, Lancaster Boulevard has been transformed into an attractive shopping destination, a magnet for pedestrian activity and a venue for civic gatherings and community events, which will help ensure long-term economic prosperity.

Public Benefits:

The overall number of traffic collisions has been cut in half, while injury-related collisions have plummeted 85% as a result of the new streetscape and traffic pattern. Traffic speeds now average 10 to 15mph along the BLVD. New public amenities include American Heroes Park, a 13.5-acre, $7 million facility, and the Lancaster Museum of Art & History, a three-story, 19,246-square-foot complex. The $5.1 million, 21-unit affordable housing development Arbor Artist Lofts opened to provide affordable housing for working artists. Public art such as street pianos, sculptures and street pians also adorn the public right-of-way.

Economic Benefits:

Revenue from the downtown area is up 119% in 2012 compared to 2007, the year before revitalization efforts began. Just over 800 housing units have been constructed or rehabilitated. Over 145,000 square feet of commercial space has been constructed or rehabilitated. More than 40 new businesses have opened along the BLVD. In the midst of the economic recovery the City of Lancaster’s overall assessed property values fell 1.25% during the period after BLVD construction was completed, however property values in the downtown area rose 9.53%. The project has generated an estimated $280 million in economic output and tax revenue from the downtown area is up 96%. These returns are even more impressive when one considers that the public investment for this street redesigned project was $10-million ($41 million was invested in total when the redevelopment of City-owned facilities like the Lancaster Museum of Art and History, etc are included).

(Sources: Moule & Polyzoides, Sargent Town Planning, Fong Hart Scheider + Partners, Swift & Associates and the City of Lancaster)

In Conclusion

Murray Hill’s infrastructure, building fabric and physical location provide it with a unique opportunity to take advantage of national mobility trends. While there are several urban neighborhoods in Jacksonville that feature walkable commercial districts, very few are like Edgewood Avenue both from a scale and demographic perspective. Edgewood’s building stock offers several opportunities for new business growth while also being anchored by many long time retail institutions. If Murray Hill is to sustain its current momentum, taking steps to ensure that Edgewood Avenue can maximize its status as the neighborhood’s economic anchor will be key to the sustained long term success of the Hill. As was the case in faraway Lancaster and from more nearby neighbors like San Marco Square and King Street, a grassroots effort started from local stakeholders is the first and most critical step for bringing a project to optimize Edgewood Avenue to fruition. If the community desires to take a giant leap forward to enhance the quality of life for their neighborhood, now is the time to answer the call and lead the way.

Article and images by Mike Field, Ledia Durmishaj and Ennis Davis.