Streets, Highways

Goshen crafts walkable downtown after assuming control of Main Street

By SARAH WRIGHT | The Municipal

The rerouting of designated state routes can sometimes open the door to new exciting possibilities. The city of Goshen, Ind., discovered this after it assumed control of its Main Street, formerly State Road 15, between Madison and Pike streets in April 2019. This transfer came with the designation of U.S. 33 moving to a new overpass and State Road 15 being rerouted to Third Street.

“The city, spanning a couple administrations, saw the benefit of removing the designated state routes from Main Street,” Goshen Director of Public Works Dustin Sailor explained. “The city and the Economic Improvement District are centrally focused on maintaining a strong central city core that in turn supports the rest of the community.”

Mayor Jeremy Stutsman added, “The transfer of Main Street from the state of Indiana to the city allowed us to pursue several physical improvements that would not have been possible prior to the transfer.”

Many improvements were geared toward making Main Street and, by extension, downtown Goshen more pedestrian friendly.

Since Main Street had served as a major state route, it experienced heavy truck traffic that ran counter to that mission while also serving as a deterrent for pedestrians in a downtown that has grown to offer unique businesses and restaurants while hosting major events like First Fridays. For ABOVE: Goshen, Ind., bagged traffic signal lights at intersections along Main Street as it switched to four-way stop signs, crafting a more pedestrian-friendly downtown. Workers will remove the signal mast arms this year. (Photo provided by the city of Goshen)

the city and the EID, it was key to remove that truck traffic to strengthen Main Street’s charm.

“Once the transfer of the corridor was complete, there was a short period of relief in having a long-term goal accomplished. Quickly following the transfer to local control, city staff worked to finalize plans to restore Main Street’s pavement and sidewalks. Although there was a desire to make significant changes, utilizing the community’s funds in a smart way is always a focused goal,” Sailor said.

Stutsman noted, “We developed conceptual plans to show businesses and

property owners in the downtown what changes were being proposed. Fortunately, Main Street was a continuation of streetscaping improvements that have been happening in the downtown for years. Improvements like angle parking, intersection bump-outs and landscaping planters have been well received in the past by downtown stakeholders and have become part of Goshen’s identity.”

Goshen held several public meetings with various stakeholders and the public; these provided a general sense of what was most important to the community.

“From the early meeting responses and surveys, there was a strong desire for more parking spaces, dedicated ADA-accessible parking and slightly more favorable support for angle parking as opposed to the status quo parallel parking option that had been in downtown Goshen for many decades,” Sailor said.

Taking this information, Goshen’s engineering department evaluated the angle parking option, including reverse angle parking; however, Sailor noted, “Respondents who reviewed the preliminary design concepts voiced their opposition to this type of parking. Conventional angle parking was ultimately selected. To support safer vehicle maneuvering in and out of the parking stalls, the corridor’s speed limit was reduced to 25 miles per hour.”

Another change that Stutsman shared was the conversion of Main Street from four lanes to two. “By reducing the number of lanes, we were able to convert Main Street to angle parking. This added many new on-street parking spaces for downtown customers and visitors,” he said.

Still, some people voiced concerns about the new angled parking and expected failure. Sailor said, “Being engineers and not Pictured is a rendering of the city of Goshen’s proposed north and south entryway arches. The project goes to bid this year. (Photo provided by the city of Goshen)

fortunetellers, a parking stall escape option was designed using paint, flexible pylons and planters, as opposed to installing concrete and other permanent features. If the public totally rejected the angle parking option, the only loss would be paint and some plastic pylons. Fortunately, the public opinion has been overwhelmingly favorable for angled parking.”

In addition to improving parking, the city has strove to make downtown more pedestrian and business friendly. To do this, it eyed its stoplights, which controlled the flow of traffic along Main Street.

“Main Street Goshen was once a highly sought-after cruising destination with lighted stops at every intersection,” Sailor said. “Cruising ultimately came to a forced end, and the signal timing was refined to the point a traveler could start at one end of Main Street and time the lights so they wouldn’t even have to stop. This quick pace of traffic flow did nothing for the businesses and made pedestrians feel unsafe.”

Naturally, with the designated state highways diverted around Main Street, traffic counts dropped, allowing the city to remove signals from all intersections, excluding those shared with two state highways and at Lincoln Avenue. In their place, the city installed four-way stops; these paired with the slower vehicle speeds have proven to be appreciated by pedestrians. Another pedestrianfriendly feature added was designated crosswalks at both

signed intersections and mid-blocks. Currently, these are just painted on the asphalt, but Goshen plans to replace them with decorative thermoplastic brick crosswalks in 2022. Sailor noted street department workers will be trained to do the thermoplastic brick, so they can reapply them as necessary in the future.

“In addition to the new pavement surface, nonessential signage was removed, essential signage was replaced with black decorative posts and sidewalk panels that were deteriorated or posed a trip hazard were replaced,” Sailor said.

In repairing sidewalk, Goshen faced an interesting challenging: a series of building vaults, which serve as extensions of downtown buildings’ basements. These vaults go into the right-of-ways and made it so some poor sidewalk couldn’t be replaced.

“With funding assistance from the Goshen Redevelopment Commission, many downtown businesses have been able to fill in their vaults,” Sailor said. “For those vaults remaining, the redevelopment commission is offering one more year of assistance in 2022. When the vaults are removed, the structural roof deck bridging the void returns to a standard unreinforced concrete panel supported underneath by earth.”

Numerous beautification efforts have also been poured into downtown. To maintain an early-1900s historic feel, downtown fire hydrants are painted black with pewter accents, a color scheme only found in the community in downtown Goshen. Businesses have also added outdoor seating, and the EID put in planters and plantings.

“Mr. Pottinger and the EID took charge of this aspect of the improvement,” Sailor said of the planters, “and really added another important facet to the downtown experience.”

At its start, construction cost opinions suggested the city would need just over $1 million per block to rebuild Main Street. Sailor noted, “With a constant need of road repairs and other improvements throughout the community, coming up with $5 (million) to $6 million to rebuild Main Street was not feasible.”

To reduce costs, the design for bidding was performed in-house. Additionally, the road surface made of concrete and asphalt was not completely removed, but milled down into the solid sub-base and then paired with a geofabric bridge material and new pavement.

“Niblock Excavating was hired to perform the hardscape improvements, and city staff were utilized to install the signs, remove the signals and paint the fire hydrants,” Sailor said. “Goshen is fortunate to have a skilled group of staff that work cooperatively for the common good of the community.”

Funding for the Main Street improvements came from the Goshen Redevelopment Commission, which generates funding from established economic improvement districts. For the cost beyond the commission’s funding limit, monies were pulled from Goshen’s economic development income tax fund.

Work isn’t done yet, with more planned improvements coming down the pipeline. Sailor expects the decorative thermoplastic brick crosswalks to go in this year. The old signal mast arms at intersections will come down in 2022. Bids will also open this spring for new north and south entryway arches, with construction of the arches being budget dependent. Then in 2023, there will be a full reconstruction of Jefferson Street between Main and Third streets and resurfacing of Clinton Street between Main and Fifth streets. Ample seating makes downtown Goshen a destination to enjoy. Its black decorative posts add to its charm. (Photo by Sarah Wright)

Crosswalks at signed intersections and mid-blocks will receive a face-lift with decorative thermoplastic probably this year. (Photo by Sarah Wright)

Stutsman noted, “Also, we will be adding more public art in the downtown.”

Overall, Sailor said, “The response has been very positive, and there is a strong desire to keep forward momentum moving on various downtown improvements.”

Stutsman concurred. “Fortunately, we have found the improvements have exceeded our expectations. Today, our downtown is more vibrant than ever. Traffic is moving smoothly, parking is highly accessible and the aesthetic improvements are quite popular.”