Traffic study says street system will cope if part of Second Avenue SE closed for PCI medical building

CEDAR RAPIDS – A draft of a traffic study on the proposed closing of a section of Second Avenue SE to allow Physicians' Clinic of Iowa to build a medical building there between 10th and 12th streets SE states that the city street system "appears" to have "sufficient capacity" to handle the PCI plan.

The study, being conducted by Anderson-Bogert Engineers and Surveyors Inc. of Cedar Rapids, goes on to say the city street system also appears to have sufficient capacity to handle other development that might come nearby and a "fairly generous" growth in traffic.

The study's cover sheet states that the study is being prepared for PCI, St. Luke's Hospital and Mercy Medical Center, all of which have been working with City Hall in the creation of a Cedar Rapids Medical District in the vicinity of 10th Street SE between the two hospitals. The city may share in some of the study's cost, Dave Elgin, the city's Public Works director, noted on Friday.

Leslie Hart, associate traffic engineer for the city of Cedar Rapids, emphasized Friday that the draft report is a work in progress. For instance, she noted that the report for now does not include any cost figures related to the considerable changes to the city's street infrastructure that are premised in the report.

Hart noted, too, that the Anderson-Bogert conclusions about the city's street system note that improvements in the system in the study area will be needed as time goes on.

The study, she said, suggests that the city could simply close Second Avenue SE between 10th and 12th streets SE initially, and motorists would "find their way for a few years."

Just how long "a few years" is has yet to be defined, said Hart.

The study said a "relief corridor" will be needed "ultimately" for First Avenue East as traffic headed into the downtown builds with an expected economic revitalization of the downtown.

The study recommends providing that relief by diverting traffic headed into downtown Cedar Rapids on one-way Second Avenue SE via 13th Street SE to Third Avenue SE, now a one-way out of the downtown.

Thirteenth Street SE, now a one-way street, would become a two-way street for the one block between Second and Third avenues SE, and Third Avenue SE and Second Avenue SE would become two-ways between Fifth Street and 13th Street SE, and then revert to one streets, Hart says.

The study also envisions that Fourth and Fifth avenues SE will be turned into two-way streets as would Seventh and Eighth streets SE, between Third and Eighth avenues SE.

Hart noted that the city has talked for some time, independent of the PCI plans, of converting Fourth and Fifth avenues to two-way streets.

Turning Second and Third avenues SE into two-way streets also has been discussed by the City Council for the last few years, but the driving force behind those conversions has been a desire to have those two avenues be two-ways in the downtown so that traffic slows and gives the downtown a feel as a place to stop in rather than leave. In part, the conversions have not taken place because of costs associated with changing railroad signals between Third and Fifth streets SE.

The Second Avenue closing study stops at Fifth Street SE and so will avoid taking on the railroad-crossing costs.

The study does not take into consideration any options for the PCI development other than closing Second Avenue SE, which was not part of PCI's publicized plans for a $36-million medical mall unveiled shortly before last fall's City Hall elections. The building plan also calls for a multimillion-dollar parking ramp, which will be paid from property taxes that accrue from the investment in the new building.

Early this year, PCI said it wanted to sit the building in the middle of Second Avenue SE rather than build on both sides of the avenue and connect the building by skywalk. PCI also has said it may reconsider where it builds its new building if its preferred plan is not accepted by the City Council. One option had been to build in Hiawatha.

Just this week, Mayor Ron Corbett, who favors closing Second Avenue to accommodate PCI, said he thinks he has the votes on the nine-member council to get the street closed.

The draft study, made available by the city on Friday, is slated to be in final form for the City Council's meeting on Aug. 24.

The study features recent traffic data, which, counted between 21,000 and about 25,000 vehicles a day on First Avenue East in the study area.

Hart said 25,000 vehicles on First Avenue East can cause congestion and 30,000 a day is pushing up against the limit.

She acknowledged, too, that average use in a day is only one measure and that how traffic at peak times is affected by development is an important measure, too.

The study noted that PCI's development is expected to add 8,780 trips to the study area and related developments from the hospitals and other businesses would bring the number of new vehicle trips to 15,500 a day in the study area, Hart pointed out.

In the last few years, Anderson-Bogert conducted a similar traffic study on First Avenue East at a time when St. Luke's Hospital and Coe College had an interest in beautifying First Avenue East with a median area and slowing traffic through the area. It's not clear what will happen with that study as the street system including busy First Avenue East now comes to grips with the prospect of closing Second Avenue East.