17 - Downtown Square Short-Term Traffic Stop Plan ProjectItem No. 17
TO: Mayor, Mayor Pro -Tem & City Council
Grayson Path, City Manager
FROM: Andrew Mack, AICP Director Planning & Community Development
SUBJECT: Downtown Square Short -Term Traffic Stop Plan Project
DATE: October 25, 2021
BACKGROUND
At its joint -work session held on 10/5/21 with the Traffic Commission and Main Street Advisory Board, a
presentation by staff and TX DOT was made regarding an interim short-term plan to implement the City's
approved two-way traffic plan for the downtown. At the meeting TX DOT provided an update that the short-
term plan for stops in the downtown will have to be on a 90 day trial basis on their trunk highway system.
Please see attached 10/5/21 Planning Report for a more complete background on the project.
On 10/5/21 the Traffic Commission recommended approval to the Council for implementation.
On 10/12/21 The Main Street Advisory Board also recommended Council approval for implementation.
RECOMMENDATION
Approval is recommended by Staff and the Council's 2 advisory boards for this90 day short-term plan.
P.O. BOX 9037 • PARIS, TEXAS 75461-9037
(903) 785-7511 • FAX (903) 784-1798
Mtg. Date: October 5, 2021
To: City Council, Traffic Commission & Main Street Advisory Board
Grayson Path, City Manager
From: Andrew Mack, AICP Director Planning & Community Development
Subject: Planning Report — Downtown Square Short -Term Traffic Stop Plan Project
PROJECT SLOGAN
At this outset of this project, City Staff and the Chamber Executive Director agreed that a
slogan should be developed to assist in marketing and communicating the short-term project
plan this November and December to implement stop signs on the four intersecting streets at
the Square. Of the five slogan options, the following was selected:
STOP - LOOK SHOP
Downtown fl Tbxas
This slogan was developed into a draft flier by the Chamber which will be presented for review
and discussion on Tuesday night. This meeting was set up as a Zoom Meeting intended to
make it more accessible to downtown merchants and the public who may have an interest in
learning more about the short-term strategic implementation measure for our downtown.
Back round
I scheduled a joint work session of the City Council, Traffic Commission and Main Street
Advisory Board and TX DOT in order for the community to have an open and positive dialog
regarding a City Staff and TX DOT District Engineer's initiative to undertake an initial 1 -month
trial of the adopted Plan by the City of Paris Texas to implement the reversion of our downtown
1 -way pairs traffic pattern back to its original 2 -way street system. This was a key goal and
strategy identified in the Toole Downtown Vision and Downtown Plan adopted by the City
Council as a part of its Comprehensive Plan Update on October 8, 2018. For those receiving
this Planning Report electronically, the attached links are made available for you to
renew/refresh your interest in the plan adopted by Council:
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DOWNTOWN PLAN GOALS & RECOMMENDATIONS
The following goals and implementation recommendations in the downtown plan were
adopted by the City Council with the update of the Comprehensive Plan on 10/8/2018. As you
will see, a number of these measures have been implemented except for the key identified
objectives for slowing speed and reverting the one-way pair system back to a two-way system.
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT to CREATE PEDESTRIAN -FRIENDLY SPACES
2.1 Reduce and enforce speed limits adjacent to the FUMC'S community spray park.
2.2 Reduce and enforce lower speed limits adjacent to Market Square.
2.3 Convert the travel lane adjacent to FUMC on Clarksville to parallel parking.
2.4 Reduce lane widths on Plaza, Lamar, and Clarksville.
2.5 Establish parallel parking on both sides of each street entering and leaving the Plaza, for a minimum distance
of one block in each direction.
2.6 Utilize bump -outs and hardscape to enhance pedestrian crossings at each intersection on the plaza. 2.7
Close one block of 3rd between Lamar and Clarksville, replace asphalt paving with pavers, and place bollards
on either end to prevent regular access, but also to provide for limited vehicular access for special events and
occasions. In the interim, provide enhanced crosswalks in conjunction with the 3rd Street repaving project.
2.8 In order to reduce the number of large trucks, improve No Through Truck & hazardous cargo signage, and
maintain police enforcement of existing restrictions on such trucks.
2.9 Incorporate Paris Metro stops into downtown's function and design, and provide assistance to ATCOG in
placement of appropriate signage and construction of bus shelters. Evaluate constructing a non-standard
downtown shelter from materials that more fit the historical character of downtown.
2.10 Construct two bump -outs each on 1 st SW and South Main south of Sherman, each pair to be opposite from
one another to create a traffic calming chicane effect.
2.11 Construct enhanced pavement pedestrian crossings at each Plaza intersection, on 1st SW connecting the
library and Market Square, at the intersections of Church and Kaufman, on Main Street connecting Bywaters
Park and the Library, and at 1st NE and Lamar.
2.12 Replace all faded, damaged, or otherwise dated wayfaring signs with new -design signage. Eliminate
unneeded locations to reduce street clutter.
2.13 Construct landscaped traffic circles at the intersections of North Main and Pine Bluff, and 1st NW and
Graham; coordinate improvements with landscaping and other improvements to be established along northern
edge of courthouse property.
2.14 Convert Price, Houston, 2nd West, and 3rd West to two-way traffic; identify and convert additional streets
as appropriate.
2.15 Expand the size of the Culbertson Fountain plaza approximately 6 feet on each side, using a pervious
material (e.g. decomposed granite, softscape, pavers, etc.). Widen existing sidewalks on the plaza by from 3 to
5 feet, using a pervious material.
2.16 Replace traffic signals on each plaza corner with stop signs.
2.17 Demolish former police station (and retrieve old tower for reuse/resale), as well as neighboring properties
as necessary, and construct a heavily landscaped new Y intersection of Grand and Bonham in that location;
prior to construction, utilize space for a temporary, highly landscaped passive park.
Issues Analysis
The main issue with the current traffic movements on the TX DOT roadway system is that it
is designed to move traffic efficiently and as quickly as possible through the downtown square;
in conjunction with the traffic signal system that is timed and sequenced to move traffic along
the system at the 30 mile per hour speed limit in all directions to and from the square. The
newly adopted objective by the City Council in 2018 was to slow this traffic down to improve
the following:
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• Vehicular safety in all directions by requiring 1 at a time vehicle stopping with a stop
sign instead of traffic signals
• Traffic accident reduction by requiring vehicles to stop and go slower vs. flying through
off -set intersection with a green light (please see attached vehicle accident incident
summary from Paris Police Department)
• Improved pedestrian flows by shorter crosswalk movements with bump outs and
requiring vehicles to yield to pedestrians once they enter the crosswalks
• Allow vehicles with slower stop and go movements to look and appreciate the
downtown experience and time to better observe downtown businesses
Specific Objectives
The specific objectives of this short-term project study implementation strategy are as follows:
1. Conduct a one-month short-term stop trial at all four square intersections by switching
all four traffic control signals to blink red and by adding 2 new temporary stop signs at
all four intersections.
2. Study the impacts on traffic movement changes, including impacts on alternate streets
given the fact that traffic normally passing through the square may find alternate routes
on the City street system.
3. Monitoring traffic counts for up to a 90 -day period before, during and after count
statistics.
4. Speed monitoring through the short-term trial period in selected locations.
5. Visual monitoring of pedestrian movements and safety of interaction between
pedestrian
90 Pro'ect Implementation & Assessment
The collaborative partners will work together to install the appropriate equipment and provide
a primary point of contact for questions, positive comments and concerns during the short-
term project period. The anticipated trial study period, subject to City Council and TX DOT
approval, will start in the middle of November and run through Christmas Eve (shopping
season). During this period TX DOT and City Staff will work to complete the technical analysis
and provide the appropriate traffic control devices according to TX DOT Roadway Technical
Specification for their Trunk Highway System.
The anticipated schedule for moving this trial study forward is as follows:
October 5, 2021 Joint Work Session City Council, Traffic Commission, Main Street
Advisory Board and recommendation by Traffic Commission to City
Council
October 12, 2021 Main Street Advisory Board recommendation to City Council
October 25, 2021 City Council final approval to work with TX DOT to implement short-
term implementation strategy project for creating stop signs & blinking
red lights on square
November 15, 2021 Begin short-term stop project on downtown square
Thru December 24,
2021
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Next Ste s
Following the completion of the short-term implementation plan a study of the results will be
completed by City Staff and TX DOT. Upon completion, the project study will be presented
to the City Council and the appropriate boards and commissions will be invited to attend the
presentation. This is anticipating around the end of the first quarter in 2022. From there,
recommendations will be provided following the short-term study how to best move forward
with full implementation of the two-way system as approved in the Downtown Plan. Obviously
the use of stop signs will not only be an effective way to really slow down vehicular traffic and
all related benefits for the downtown; but it will also be significantly less costly than the
required upgrade at all four intersections, and further out on the trunk highway system, for
adding new signalization upgrades at an estimated cost of one-half million dollars per
intersection.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Traffic Commission and Main Street Advisory Board approve a
recommendation to the City Council of this plan for a short-term traffic stop project in the
downtown square.
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