After its $1.5 million makeover this summer, Salt Lake City's east-side shopping area at 900 South and 900 East will have pedestrian countdown timers, benches and decorative street lighting. The city may also build a tree-lined median that would eliminate two traffic lanes if approved.
Construction on 900 South between Windsor Street (840 East) and 1000 East will start the end of May and finish in October, according to John Naser, who is with the city Engineering Department. The City Council on Tuesday night approved a special taxing district to pay for the beautification. Traffic lanes will remain open during construction, Naser said. In the end, the street will gain eight more parking stalls, bringing the total to 73.
The street also will be resurfaced, the traffic signal replaced and the city will add planters and bike racks to the sidewalks. The city considered, but ultimately rejected, building roundabouts on 900 South.
A major part of the plan is the tree-lined median, which is meant to slow down traffic and give the district a unique look. But Councilman Dave Buhler persuaded council members to hold off on that portion until they know how much it will cost each year to maintain the greenway.
Buhler said the delay isn't due to concerns raised by Sen. Mike Waddoups, who owns commercial property on 900 South and protested a hike in his property taxes to pay for the improvements.
While the Taylorsville Republican supports some improvements, he said the landscaped median will lower the value of his property, that the streetlighting is "cutesy" and unnecessary, and a reduction in traffic lanes could harm business, pushing shops into the suburbs. Waddoups said other property owners should pay for upgrades on their own instead of seeking the tax increase.
"We should take care of our own," Waddoups said. "That's the American way."
But a majority of the other 900 South property owners agreed to the changes, and most supported the increase in their property taxes to put $362,000 toward the beautification. The city is kicking in $1.14 million.
The Ninth and Ninth neighborhood is touted as one of Salt Lake City's most walkable, but its crumbling infrastructure belies the label.
Diane Etherington, owner of The Children's Hour Book & Toy Store, said the improvements are badly needed. The parking stalls in front of the building she rents haven't been repainted for two decades. The patches in the road need annual updates.
She said she hopes the physical overhaul will prompt even more changes. Namely, she and a small group of others want the city to rezone homes on 900 South between 900 East and 1100 East to allow commercial uses - something she acknowledged is opposed by surrounding neighbors.
But Etherington said the additional shops could provide a critical mass that would lure more shoppers to the street's eclectic mix of restaurants, coffee shops, a bicycle shop, a clothing store and a yoga studio.
"If they really want the street to be viable . . . it really does have to be commercial all the way up the street," Etherington said.
