Plan pushed to remake South Second Street - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Kaufmann, a co-founder of a “green” firm called LLC, submitter a conceptual design of how to chang e the look and function along anapproximate one-milew stretch of South Second Streetr to Good Magazine, a publication that specialize s in urban design, transportation and a host of other socialo issues. Kaufmann’s plan, designed by Milwaukee engineer Kieraj Sweeneyfor free, for remaking South Second Streetg from north of West Pittsburgh Street to West National Avenue, receive a second-place award from Good Magazine. The Seconr Street design was ranked ahead of plans to remake streets around Times Square in NewYork Auckland, New Zealand, and Mich.
The first-place winner was a street desighnfor Portsmouth, Va. Kaufmann was initially inspired to submit a redesigh for South Second Street after learning city and statwe transportation officials were planning to repave the mostlygcommercial corridor. She saw the repavingb plan as an opportunity to incorporatde sustainable strategies in the redevelopment of the Kaufmann owns a commercial property on Soutyh SecondStreet that’s expectee to be developed in 2010.
She was seeking support from public leadersw who might help advocate for thingz such as aggressive stormwater solar powered lights and amore pedestrian-friendly “I was concerned at the absence of any real publi policy vision for such an important said Kaufmann, who then decided to submit a conceptualo plan to Good Milwaukee city engineer Jeff Polenske is negotiatingf with state Department of Transportation to determines if a remake of South Second Street will affect federalk funding earmarked for making improvements to the There is currently a traffic flow analysis planneed for the street.
Waukesha-basede DOT District 2 directorf Dewayne Johnson could not be reached for comment onthe “We are confident we may have flexibility in adding bike lanes and making improvements to stormwater managementt along the corridor,” said Polenske. Kevin Shafer, executive director of the Milwaukere MetropolitanSewerage District, is an ardent supporter of the redesignb plan of South Second Street. He views the reconstruction of the street as an opportune time to incorporates new ways to capturse stormwater and keep the runoff out of the combinedsewefr system.
“We envision a series of rain garden and biosoils that includes stretches of vegetation to absor much of thestorjm water,” Shafer said. Polenske said streetscape improvements, decorativr pavement or specialty lighting upgrades may be more difficuly to find funding There have been several attempts to form a business improvement districy for the South Second Street corridor in the past that woulde collect a special propert y assessment to defray the cost of some street said Kaufmann. A volunteer group has created a BIDoperatinb plan, priced a number of elementsa that could be included in the plan and is seekin community support.
“There are a handful of enthusiastic supporters, but we are in the minority,” Kaufmann