Title
Academy Boulevard Great Streets Progress Report 2018
Presenter:
Conrad Olmedo, Comprehensive Planner II
Natalie Rodriguez, Comprehensive Planning Work Study
Body
Summary:
As an element of the Colorado Springs Comprehensive Plan, the Academy Boulevard Corridor (ABC) Great Streets Plan, adopted in 2011, recommends an annual report on measures and progress. This report, the Academy Boulevard Great Streets Progress Report for 2018, has a fundamental purpose of maintaining focus on the Academy Boulevard Corridor and Southeast Colorado Springs. The report also provides context for ongoing and future initiatives. The final report is attached and will be summarized at the meeting.
As an agenda item immediately following this report, there will be a summary of the 2018 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Advisory Services Panel Report on Southeast Colorado Springs. This ULI report is referenced as an attachment to this ABC report.
Previous Council Action:
City Council adopted the Great Streets Plan as an element of the Comprehensive Plan in 2011. In 2016, City Council also adopted the 2014 South Academy Economic Opportunity Zone Action Plan as document to assist in guiding strategic planning for this corridor.
Background:
The ABC Great Streets Progress Report for 2018 is a compilation and presentation of data for the defined study area. The study area is bordered by Maizeland Road to the north, Drennan Road to the south, and extends 1 mile east and west along Academy Boulevard. This study area composes 12 square miles of Colorado Springs.
This year’s report is slightly modified from last year’s report. These changes helped address the identified twelve Measures of Success and how they relate to the seven Characteristics of a Great Street. Changes to this year’s ABC report include:
• Crime data updates to reflect officer-based accuracy
• Adding North Academy Boulevard as a comparable geography
• Mapping of Strava data to showcase bicycle ridership
• 2018 traffic counts along both North and South Academy Boulevard
This draft report was presented to the City Planning Commission on March 17, 2018. At the meeting, the following recommendations by Planning Commissioners were provided:
• Include additional schools to provide comparison of performance benchmarks.
• Provide brief discussion on geographic discrepancy of study area boundaries as overlaid upon existing U.S. Census Tracts.
• Respond to the dislocation of services from the southeast community.
• Present ideas on neighborhood planning efforts for the community.
Planning Commission’s recommendations are addressed in this final draft report.
Rather than provide recommendations, the ABC report’s primary function is to present accurate, descriptive, and representative data of the study area. Data presented in this report have been provided by both City and non-City agencies. This year’s report provides a comparison between the North and South Academy corridors for several different measures.
A recent effort by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) provided such an effort and the panel’s report is included as an addendum to the ABC report. This effort is locally led by El Paso County Public Health in partnership with several other agencies and stakeholders, including the City of Colorado Springs.
Financial Implications:
N/A
Board/Commission Recommendation:
N/A
Stakeholder Process:
Both City and non-City agencies were consulted with in the preparation of this report as well as actual contributors to content included in this report.
Alternatives:
N/A
Recommended Action
Proposed Motion:
N/A
Summary of Ordinance Language
N/A