Realigned traffic patterns and a large park that a consultant said would generate ''future growth and excitement'' are key parts of a proposal for downtown Fort Dodge.
''There's no doubt that this is big thinking,'' Douglas Hammel, a project manager for Camiros, told the City Council Monday when he introduced the results of the downtown study.
The major elements of that plan were introduced Jan. 24, when the Chicago-based consulting firm made its first report.
The proposal calls for eliminating Second Avenue South between the Karl L. King Viaduct and South Seventh Street. Vehicles would be routed onto First Avenue South, which would be opened to two-way traffic.
After the pavement and buildings that now line Second Avenue South are removed, a large park would be created on that land.
Hammel described that park as a ''great opportunity to create an engine for future growth and excitement downtown.''
The park and the street realignment, he said, are essential to an overall plan to bring more housing, specialty stores and restaurants to the city's center.
Hammel did not include any cost estimates in his presentation. Also, he didn't recommend a schedule for completing the project. He did, however, urge city leaders to get started immediately on updating zoning laws and creating needed partnerships with the private sector.
Councilmen Matt Bemrich and Dave Flattery asked how the downtown study coordinates with the effort to spruce up the main entry corridors of the city.
Larry Lund, with Real Estate Planning Group, said the downtown work doesn't overlap with the corridor study because the consultants don't envision the city center becoming a major retail area. Lund's company worked with Camiros on the study.
Hammel told Flattery that he wasn't familiar with the specific plan for upgrading the intersection of Fifth Avenue South and Eighth Street. But he added that the intersection is an important entry to the downtown.
The $90,000 study was paid for by the Self Supported Municipal Improvement District, the city government and the Development Corporation of Greater Fort Dodge.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net