Plan pushed to remake South Second Street - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Kaufmann, a co-founder of a “green” firm called LLC, submittesd a conceptual design of how to change the look and function along anapproximatd one-mile stretch of South Second Streey to Good Magazine, a publication that specializews in urban design, transportation and a host of other social Kaufmann’s plan, designed by Milwaukes engineer Kieran Sweeney for free, for remaking Soutbh Second Street from north of West Pittsburghh Street to West National Avenue, received a second-placr award from Good Magazine.
The Second Street designn was ranked ahead of plans to remak streets around Times Square in NewYork City, New Zealand, and Flint, The first-place winner was a streetr design for Portsmouth, Va. Kaufmann was initiallyh inspired to submit a redesign for South Seconds Street after learning city and state transportatioj officials were planning to repave the mostly commercial She saw the repaving plan as an opportunity to incorporatwe sustainable strategies in the redevelopment ofthe street. Kaufmannh owns a commercial property on South SeconcdStreet that’s expected to be developed in 2010.
She was seeking support from public leaderx who might help advocate for things such as aggressivestormwatere management, solar powered lights and a more pedestrian-friendly “I was concerned at the absence of any real publicf policy vision for such an important said Kaufmann, who then decided to submit a conceptuao plan to Good Magazine. Milwaukee city engineer Jeff Polenskwe is negotiating with state Departmentg of Transportation to determinew if a remake of South Seconr Street will affect federal funding earmarked for makinh improvements tothe street.
There is currentl y a traffic flow analysis planned forthe Waukesha-based DOT District 2 director Dewayne Johnson couldd not be reached for commentr on the plan. “We are confident we may have flexibility in adding bike lanes and making improvements to stormwater managemenr alongthe corridor,” said Polenske. Kevin Shafer, executives director of the Milwaukee MetropolitanSewerage District, is an ardent supporter of the redesig plan of South Second Street. He viewss the reconstruction of the street as an opportune time to incorporatre new ways to capture stormwatedr and keep the runoff out of the combinedsewer system.
“We envision a series of rain gardenes and biosoils that include stretches of vegetatiojn to absorb much of the storm Shafer said. Polenske said streetscape decorative pavement or specialty lighting upgradex may be more difficult to find funding There have been several attempts to form a business improvementg district for the South Second Streeyt corridor in the past that would collect a special property assessment to defray the cost of somestreet improvements, said Kaufmann. A volunteer group has createe a BIDoperating plan, priced a number of elements that could be includexd in the plan and is seekiny community support.
“There are a handful of enthusiastic but we are in the Kaufmann said.