Agenda Packets - 1995/02/06 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • property and thus avoid the separate condemnation and purchase of easements beneath private land. Also, one finds in Japan many shopping centers and public parking facilities constructed beneath the public streets at major commercial centers. Such construction allows the provision of needed facilities in locations where new surface land is unavailable and where the cost of private land is prohibitive. Despite the ability to avoid the cost of the purchase of private land, however, the construction of major new facilities beneath streets in heavily-used commercial districts is fraught with many difficulties - disruption to the existing neighborhood during construction, relocation of existing 111 utilities, etc. and damage to streets. These questions will be addressed later in the report but in this chapter, one issue will be focussed on - does the fact that public agencies and utilities do not have to pay for utilizing the public space beneathgghtsf way mean thaw the space should-be administered --11.11- as if it has no value and no impact on the long-term development of the urban area. In effect, this is what often happens at present - current projects to be placed beneath streets are laid out and constructed on the basis of avoiding existing utilities, maintaining access for future repair, minimizing damage to boulevard trees, and where possible following utility layout corridors which have been set up to reduce future utility conflicts and accidental damage due to unknown location. These issues present difficult problems to resolve, especially in older portions of cities with narrower streets and a longer history of utility development. The nature of the decisions currently made however do not consider substantially alternate uses of the space which may be desirable later in the I, growth of the urban area. The alternate uses may include: r I; • Underground pedestrian connections - these require less change of elevation for pedestrians than skyways across streets, they do not visually interfere with the aesthetics of the existing streetscape and they make a more convenient circulation system for cities with an underground transit system. The reason pedestrian tunnels are not built more often has mainly to do with the expense of relocating the existing utilities to accommodate the tunnel. I j Other reasons may include poor personal security in uncontrolled pedestrian tunnels and the greater ease of wayfinding in a skyway system. l 111 • Public or private facilities needed in a particular area for which there is no longer any private land available - this is less of a problem in U.S. cities than in Japan or Europe because land costs are lower, there are fewer historical districts which require preservation, and planning restrictions are generally less severe. These needs can result in parking structures and shopping centers beneath streets and plazas in central cities. 12 Il