The Cedar Rapids Public Library’s “Bridge” facility at Westdale Mall opened today, providing a larger, temporary location for the downtown main branch damaged in the flood. The Bridge is located in the old Osco Drug space and replaces an existing branch location on the upper level of Westdale. Until now, that was the library’s only location since June. Project design was donated by OPN Architects.
Category: Cedar Rapids (page 7 of 9)
The decision was made this week to raise transit fares in Cedar Rapids to help make up for the city budget shortfall caused by the summer flood and current economic situation. The Gazette’s Rick Smith reported on his city government blog that regular fares will rise to $1.25 from $1, and reduced fare will increase from 50 cents to 60 cents. There was a proposal to eliminate Saturday service, which averages only 1300 riders each weekend, but the City Council rejected that proposal. Fares provide only about 15 percent of the transit operating costs.
Like cities across the country, Cedar Rapids has made a wish list of projects vying for federal funds through President-elect Obama’s proposed national economic stimulus package. Top funding requests include: $17 million to repair the flood damaged public library or $21 million for a new facility, $35 million for a new bridge over the Cedar River between C Street SW and Otis Road SE, and $155 million for the long planned extension of Highway 100 (Collins Road) around the western edge of town to Highway 30. According to the January 8, Gazette report, the city is requesting money for a variety of other projects including local road improvements, wells, sewers, and buses, among others.
The Gazette reported Tuesday of a new website set up by an area software engineer, Thaddeus Ternes, to solve his frustration of unforeseen traffic hold ups on his commute along Interstate 380. Daily traffic levels have increased over the years as more and more people are commuting between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City for work.
Since I-380 is only two lanes in each direction between CR and IC, traffic can be dense, but is generally not a problem. However, when major accidents happen or bad winter weather, long back ups and delays can occur.
CorridorCommute allows contributing motorists to post live updates via Twitter to let other drivers know instantly about any delays or adverse traffic conditions. Drivers can check updates on the website, RSS, or have them sent via email, instant message, or text. A cool implementation of new technology and communication tools locally.
Cedar Rapids Transit resumed fare collection November 1, following five months of free bus rides since the June flood. An article in the Gazette reported noticeable ridership increases during that time and suggested it could decrease now that it is no longer free. Another cause could have be reduction in service during this time – only hourly trips for many routes all day, rather than the pre-flood 30-minute headways. Eight GMC RTS buses were lost in the flood, along with the Ground Transportation Center and maintenance facility.
Initially when transit service returned about a week after the flood hit, a temporary transit site was set up about 10 blocks from the GTC a city parking lot at 4th Ave and 12th Street SE. A few weeks later when downtown became less restricted, a more permanent temporary transfer site was set up at “park and ride” Lot 44 south of downtown at 12th Ave SE, along the riverfront. Since then it has been determined that buses will not be returning to the GTC. A new bus station is proposed with a new intermodal transportation facility that has been in the works for years now, with three or four different sites and programs. The latest location was somewhere by 3rd Street SE close to 8th Ave – only a few blocks from Lot 44.
Trailers have been set up at Lot 44 to provide information, shelter and restrooms for passengers in the coming winter months. Meanwhile the bus garage is being used for fueling and storage only with maintenance being done by the city fleet department.
Eight used 40 foot 1992 TMC RTS buses will be arriving from California in December to replace the eight buses that were lost. Additionally, four brand new 35 foot Gillig Lowfloor buses will be joining the fleet in April. The Gillig purchase – Cedar Rapids’ first actual new buses in many years – was planned for before the flood, just as CyRide, Iowa City Transit, and Cambus have purchased new Lowfloors in the past year.
As Cedar Rapids Transit was rebranded from “EAGL” about a year ago (read post) when transit and parking split in the city reorganizing, the new buses will bring a visible rebranding with a new livery. The new used RTS’s and new Gilligs will be painted green (shade of city logo, not the old teal color) below the windows with some striping and the city logo added. “We are switching to the city’s green because we want to be recognized as a city department, and because we want to promote the green (environmental) benefits of public transit,” according to Transit Manager Brad DeBrower.
I expressed to Brad my desire to see big improvements at Cedar Rapids Transit into a great system with expanded service. However, it’s clear they are facing many setbacks. In addition to the flood, the transit department is plagued with budget restraints, too many old buses in the fleet, and insufficient manpower. For example, all transit planning is done by Brad, on top of his regular duties as department manager. He says he’s hopefully the system’s impediments will be addressed.
The new used buses arriving in December – which are in better shape than the eight lost – will allow for increased peak service. Additional 35 or 40 foot Gillig Lowfloors will be purchased over the next few years to modernized the fleet.
The City of Cedar Rapids held its second open house for the River Corridor Redevelopment Plan on Thursday, Sept. 11, presenting potential flood control options developed by Stanley Consultants along with the Army Corps of Engineers. Twenty-two flood management tactics were evaluated for their effectiveness in flood reduction, cost, and amount of time required to implement them. The tactics ranged from large multi-billion dollar diversion channels to just increasing capacity of the river through dredging and flood storage at certain points. Even the unthinkable, removal of Mays Island, was examined – results showing it would only serve to reduce flooding by two percent. From the study results, three main strategies for future flood management were generated:
Option 1 – Tall, permanent flood walls and levees at the river’s edge with removable walls in downtown. (require 100 acres, cost up to $900 million)
Option 2 – Move option 1 flood protection a few blocks away from the river, except downtown where removable flood walls would be used right at the river edge. (require 250 acres, cost up to $1 billion)
Option 3 – Move flood protection even farther from the river using smaller levees and removable flood walls to create a large greenway along the river. (require 700 acres, cost up to $1.2 billion)
The city will meet with Sasaki Associates, the city’s consultant for river redevelopment and formerly chosen to design a pre-flood river walk, to come up with a final flood management plan by mid-October to submit to the Army Corps of Engineers and then go from there. It is likely the plan will take parts of all three options presented at the Thursday open house.
Grand Forks has been looked to as a precedent since the beginning of the flood, so many are imagining a similar post-flood greenway park and flood wall system for Cedar Rapids. Following the historic Grand Forks flood in 1997, it took almost ten years to implement their plan, but is now a major attraction for the city. Cedar Rapids’ flood protection system will play a huge role in the future of the city, but must also respect its past as extraordinary change is made over the next decade.
> River Corridor Redevelopment Plan – Open House No. 2 Presentation (PDF)
> Great Grand Forks Greenway website
> Greater Grand Forks Greenway – Wikipedia
Cedar Rapids Transit will move it’s temporary transfer site Monday back to downtown at park-and-ride lots along the riverfront at 12th Avenue and 2nd Street SE. The current transfer site, set up at the corner of 4th Avenue and 12th Street SE when service resumed after the flood, is about ten blocks east of the downtown Ground Transportation Center, consequently causing on-time issues for west side routes. Routes serving the east side have been arriving at the endpoint about five minutes ahead of time while west side routes have been running behind schedule in the afternoons when ridership appears to be the heaviest. The return to downtown should allow buses to more easily maintain the regular schedule. This new temporary site is within a few blocks of the future intermodal transportation facility that is planned to house a new bus transfer station. Transit service continues fare free for now with hourly headways on all routes.
Cedar Rapids’ planned new courthouse has been bumped up on the priority list for construction by the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Courts Executive Committee, in lieu of severe flood damage to the existing 77 year-old courthouse. Senators Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley have been working the past few weeks to get the courthouse moved up, which has been delayed for fifteen years while other courthouse projects have been expedited. This is certainly good news for Cedar Rapids and downtown. The 8-story building that will be elevated above the 500 year flood plane will enhance the city’s skyline and be a very visible sign of the city’s triumph over the flood. According to the Gazette, construction could begin as early as next year.
Transit service resumed today after being suspended since Thursday due to the historic flooding that has occurred in Cedar Rapids and the midwest. Since the GTC, about a block from the river, was right in the middle of the flood zone, a temporary on-street transfer site was set up at 4th Avenue and 12th Street SE. No revised maps or schedules have been made available yet, but additional transit staff were available at the transfer point to assist passengers. Only one bus was running on each route so service was hourly all day.
I am working with the Veterans Memorial Commission this summer, which takes care of the Veterans Memorial Building on Mays Island, which houses city hall offices. The basement and mezzanine levels were completely submerged by flood water pushed in from the attached underground parking garage. The first floor also had about two feet of standing water, completely ruining the auditorium floor and numerous artifacts in the Spanish American War Memorial Room that houses the VMC office.
I was back to work Tuesday, mostly picking up sandbags and debris at the police station, library, and public works as we aren’t able to do much work in City Hall until the water goes down. Today the downtown bridges were reopened to traffic and downtown was alive, getting right to work on cleaning up. I’ve heard it could take weeks to get power back to downtown so it will certainly be along time until it is back to normal. My hope is that downtown can comeback bigger and better than it was before. While the flood will inevitable hurt small shops and businesses the most, it appears the extensive damage could expedite some large projects planned for downtown.
According to a June 18, Gazette article, Senators Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley want the federal government to move ahead with construction of the planned new federal courthouse, which has been continuously delayed for the past fifteen years, instead of spending time and money on repairs to the current facility which would be inadequate anyway. This seems like a sensible idea and then the current courthouse could be renovated right away into mixed-use as is planned by the City of Cedar Rapids when it is transferred ownership in exchanged for the land slated for the new courthouse at 8th Ave SE between the river and 2nd Street. The site will of course be elevated so the new courthouse will be above the 500 year flood plane.
Another project that could become even more of a priority is the planned intermodal transportation facility which has been changed a number of times over the past five to ten years of initial planning. Now slated for 3rd Street SE around 9th Ave SE, the facility would include a parking garage to replace the First Street Parkade along the riverfront that has reached the end of its useful lifetime. Small repairs and patches have kept it open in recent years but according to some parking guys I was working with on Tuesday, the flood waters more than likely put it in disrepair. Personally I don’t think downtown needs another parking garage and that there is plenty of parking already, but it’d be good to see this and other projects move forward.
Click above for Youtube video of bus evacuation.
As all regular transit service was suspended in Cedar Rapids, city buses were used to transport evacuated inmates from the Linn County Jail to other facilities Thursday morning. According to the Gazette, more than a dozen buses were lined up along 3rd Ave SE between 6th and 8th streets, while at least two buses plowed through the water, 4-5 feet deep in some locations from Mays Island to the transfer site to other buses on 3rd Ave.
Some side panels were removed from the bus to prevent the water pressure from rolling the bus. Some that were not removed were literally falling off afterwords. According to a KCRG.com younewstv report, the buses began to float toward the curb by Smulekoff’s at 3rd Ave and 1st Street, so the doors were opened to let in water and get the buses back down.
Todd from the Gazette has some great images on Flickr (eibbtoddb) and a Youtube video you can link to above. Below are a few of Todd’s photos:
Cedar Rapids bus driving through deep water on 3rd Ave SE transporting inmates from evacuated Linn County Jail.
Staging area on 3rd Ave and 8th Street SE for inmates to transfer to other buses.
Side panels falling off bus after driving through window-deep water.
This flooding is unprecedented for Cedar Rapids, devastated thousands of homes and businesses. Over 400 blocks of the city including nearly every major building in downtown Cedar Rapids is currently under water. The outpouring of support by volunteers and neighbors lending a helping hand is a testament to the great community of Cedar Rapids and all of Iowa. It will be a long summer cleaning up and getting back to normal.
© 2022 URBAN THINKING
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑