City officials held a public meeting to discuss the future development of the 700 and 800 blocks of State Street and Library Mall Tuesday, which included making the area more pedestrian and bike friendly as well as increasing street lighting.
A comprehensive redesign of State Street that began in 2005 has now extended to Library Mall, which has been coined a public gathering space.
Presenters said the goal of the redesign is to protect the area’s identity while maintaining it as a daily destination that connects the city to the university and brings people together.
Meeting attendees provided suggestions to foster this connection while describing the wants and needs of stakeholders in the community.
Ideas for the 800 block included adding public attractions, such as seating and art along with possibly extending the parking area for food carts.
Further discussions focused on implementing new pedestrian crossings from State Street onto Park and Langdon Streets as well as facilitating bicycle use in the area.
There was a shared consensus to preserve the fountain and large green spaces on Library Mall in addition to providing features that could increase safety to extend the area’s usable hours.
Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said he supported adding street lights to “make [library mall] a more active location, well up to midnight.”
Project administrators will now compile the ideas from the meeting and develop a preliminary design in May 2013, which will be presented at a second public meeting in June 2013 after review from the State Street Design Project Oversight Committee.
