Davis, California is transforming its G Street merchant corridor into a vibrant, car-free space using quick-build, easily installed but still robust temporary materials.
"We do still need more bike parking here," said Ryan Chapman, traffic engineer for the city of Davis, during a recent tour of G Street and its surrounding corners.
G Street, in Davis's downtown, is just a short walk from the Amtrak Station. "G Street was shut down during the pandemic," Chapman explained. As with many other cities that closed streets to provide more space for socially distanced recreation, Davis's engineers and planners continued building on what they started. They added more street furniture, modal filters, and planters.
One of the most impressive "quick build" elements they added are the enlarged sidewalks built in place of angled parking. Those aren't permanent sidewalks built of concrete, even if they look like it. They used a product from Bison, a Colorado-based company, which makes pavers that sit on adjustable pedestals.
That allowed the city of Davis to build a temporary but level sidewalk extensions without rebuilding the street's drainage. Note the slits in the curbs. Those allow water to get under the pavers to reach the street's existing drainage system.
Long term, after outreach and negotiations with merchants, the hope is to convert this to a permanent installation that will "emphasize bikes over cars" on the street.
More background from the city of Davis website on the "G Street Activation" project:
Since June 2020, G Street, between 2nd and 3rd Streets, has been closed to motor vehicles and open to businesses setting up outdoor dining spaces, public spaces or shopping and to pedestrians and bicyclists. The decision to activate G Street was a collaboration between the City and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions. The intent was to encourage people to return downtown to shop, eat and experience a positive community in a safe, socially distanced, outdoor setting.
The City and businesses transformed G Street quickly from a street for cars into a street for businesses to expand into the street where people can walk and bike. Since then, a desire to better organize, decorate and activate this area has risen, along with addressing concerns raised by the business community. To read the City Council and Bicycling, Transportation and Street Safety Commission staff reports, open the corresponding tab below.
In January 2023, the City Council approved activating G Street and keeping it closed to motor- vehicle traffic. As a result of this action, City staff was asked to develop a list of near-term, mid-term and long-term alternatives to help enhance and activate G Street. The City hired PSOMAS to provide planning, landscape architecture and preliminary engineering services. The City is utilizing American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated by the City Council. The project budget is approximately $1 million.
What does the city ultimately have in mind? The end goal is clear, because they've already accomplished it a few blocks away on 3rd street on a project done before the pandemic:
The "Davis Needle" obelisk seen above is part of a car diverter where University and 3rd meet. In Streetsblog's view, this stretch of 3rd, lined with a mix of small businesses and homes, is one of the loveliest, most inviting streets in North America.
G Street is an example of what "iteration" is supposed to mean. Davis's DOT started on G Street with paint and posts (and still uses plenty of them) and is steadily using more and more robust materials, building towards its goal of modernizing the street permanently. It really showcases what a street can be and what a tiny department of transportation can accomplish, even with quick-build materials.
"We’ve had a steady stream of people enjoying the space and we expect that to increase now that we are fully into spring," wrote Barbara Archer, a spokesperson for the city, in an email to Streetsblog.
Streetsblog looks forward to visiting again when the project is complete.
