Mayor Jim Langfelder has changed plans to convert a portion of Adams Street into a pedestrian plaza during weekends, deciding that the street should remain open to vehicular traffic.
The city had granted a permit to close Adams between Fourth and Fifth streets from noon on Fridays until Mondays at 7 a.m. through the end of October. Now, under what the mayor calls a compromise, the street would still close on Sundays but otherwise would remain open, reduced to one westbound lane with parklets – outdoor dining areas typically protected by barricades – on either side of the street fronting businesses that have dubbed themselves the Adams Family.
It’s not what the Adams Family wants.
“We haven’t gotten special treatment, the truth is we put the work in, the creativity in, and leveraged the advantages of our location which happens to be a side street that is already regularly shut down to create something cool,” Josh Flanders, proprietor of Buzz Bomb Brewing Co., writes on the brewery’s website. “We’ve worked with the city and the mayor on several things to great success but in this case we don’t agree on the problem or the solution.”
The street has been closed during weekends during the pandemic, with the move to extend the closing through October seen as a more permanent arrangement. But other businesses, including Haxel Law and JP Kelly’s, want a street with cars, according to Langfelder and Martin Haxel, whose building includes upper story residential space as well as a law office.
“I just want traffic flowing down the street and reasonable controls to be kept on outdoor noise,” Haxel said. “I think it is a given that most people just want to be able to get where they want to go easily and park nearby. That means keeping a street a street.”
The change came after a Monday meeting between Langfelder, business owners and downtown boosters, including Lisa Clemmons Stott, executive director of Downtown Springfield, Inc., who announced her resignation two days later, effective at the end of this month. Clemmons Stott, who has pushed the city for better land-use planning downtown, has not returned phone calls.
In an interview, Flanders acknowledged concerns about noise from live music. “We try to keep it down,” he said. The solution, he said, lies not in canceling permission to close the street but in passing a citywide noise ordinance.
Langfelder says that weekend closures will continue through the end of this month to allow time for parklet installation, which he says will reduce speeds.
“What’s happening immediately is going to be the parklets, and now kind of a road diet, if you will, when you have the parklets,” the mayor said. “I think it will slow down traffic automatically.”
Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in New vision? Or new prison?.
Thousands of Downtown have reopened their closed streets gotten rid of stop lights replaced them with stop signs returned of angled parking and 2 way streets. WHY ? Because because all the former has proven to kill business.
Not a bad compromise. Car culture is just so entrenched, especially among the elders. I think we probably need to put in better transit systems first, like protected bike lanes and trollies for example.
Car culture is not going to go away in this lifetime or the next few lifetimes
The economy is built around automobil. Not to say there should not be accommodation made for the less than 10% that ride bikes and walk.
This isnt about cars vs. walking. Its about having outdoor business downtown in the summer or not.
The performance artists and downtown hospitality need this business to bounce back from COVID.
Everyone says they want culture, entertainment, activity, and business downtown. Here we have 20+ summer occasions planned and booked now to be cancelled.
Got to love the people that won’t post under a real name
It has all to do with cars and convenient safe close in parking.Our daily lives revolve around cars in one way or another
Thousand of Downtown’s have been put back just as they were before government came up this ridiculous idea of closing off streets in the 1960’s. It killed Downtown’s more than Malls ever did .
including Springfield.
Anyone can see the effect of closed off Adams street has had on the businesses that are locate on it ( or lack of)
Many of the ground floor spaces have been empty for years due to lack of convenient parking and vehicle traffic.
Another BIG mistake in motion right now is re-location Amtrak right across the street from the county jail !! What a welcome mat!
Since i presume Paul Barker’s comment about real names was directed at me, my name is Rafael Joseph. I have lived in springfield near downtown and done business there for 30+ years excepting my time in the service.
I like to have things to do outdoors downtown in the summer. There is plenty of parking and once you’re down there you walk around from area to area. Its enjoyable and all the businesses down there profit from it.
Dont judge the Adams plaza from books or reports or national statistics or whatever. Come down there and see it happening. Its one block of one street from friday night to sunday afternoon. The Farmers Market uses the same space.
We who live in springfield dont have a problem getting around or finding parking. Its not that difficult .
Because i believe in the idea of having downtown be an active thriving place for entertainment and hospitality businesses, im going the have a small event on that Adams street plaza this coming saturday may 15th 3-6pm. There will be a really good Zydeco band from St Louis. details can be found on the IT event calendar.
So anyone who likes live zydeco music outdoors in the afternoon , please stop by and see how nice it is to have this going on downtown.
Paul Barker, come on down and your first beer is on me 🙂