Road king- don't forget a tunnnel. Just make River Street River Tunnel instead out some misters and plant growing out the the tunnel. Neat. Underground railroad right here in the downtown.

sa nantonio river walk compared to janesville-
Sorry doesn't compare.
We cannot even keep the pool open here.
It is a must see though. San Antonio I mean.

It might be nice to put in a whole bunch of roundabouts and pedestrian safety islands to.

The Downtown Vision and Strategy document
http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/citysite/...
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lays out the agreed upon improvements that will help the downtown. One of these is improving the traffic gateways to the downtown. They are doing River St. right now because, in case you hadn't noticed, RIVER STREET NEEDS RECONSTRUCTION. (Sorry to go all Eyster on you with limited reading comprehension skills.) If Milton Ave. is ever rebuilt they will attempt related improvements there. Same with Main, Court and Parker. The point is not to spend lots of money -- this doesn't really cost that much extra, as the entire street roadbed must be rebuilt, and new sewer and so forth laid in -- as to cosmetically improve things WHEN you rebuild. If anything, a narrower street curb to curb will use less concrete.
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The city does recognize that downtown needs more destination activities. But that is private development that will only happen if a public commitment to the area is shown. It was the city's commitment to the downtown that led to the Armory, the Speakeasy, JPAC, Sara redeveloping the Helgesen Building, and so on. The private money and jobs will just go to eating up farmland otherwise.

If you *really* want a gateway to downtown, turn Racine into a 4-lane 50mph highway until it hits Main St. There is currently no quick way to get from the highway to downtown. If people come to Janesville, it’s easiest to exit on Milton and hit the big box stores and fast food meccas. Give them a fast, convenient way to get downtown, and a reason to come, and you’ll get your tourists/customers. But River St. is basically just an alternate route from nowhere to nowhere.

If you make improvements others will have the incentative to also make improvements. A downtown hotel/convention center concept would draw people downtown, create new business' which create jobs and start a revitalization of the area. Got to think about tomorrow and today is a good day to start.

Ok... my lunch time is almost over, so this will be the last entry (for now)... with St Mary's going in with a straight shot to Racine Street, is there consideration of turning Racine Street corridor into a gateway? It can hook up with River Street. What does the market research show as the consumers of a hospital located so close to the interstate and where their visitors/family would like to lodge and eat dinner, etc.? Is downtown too far?

@Belman... San Antonio's river walk: http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/
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Paired it with hotels to support Madison and Rockford's convention overflow - with shuttle services to major airports and regional venues. Now, that would be a River Street worth visiting.

Oh.. the rain garden. Just a note that it isn't the planting material that makes a rain garden, as turf can provide filtration. It's the structure of the "garden". See the following link for research by the UW's OJ Noer Center - all homes and businesses should recognize their part in keeping our waters clean.

http://www.news.wisc.edu/13823

Suggest the power that be check with the Noer Center prior to the creation of the "gardens" to ensure the latest peer reviewed research findings are being used. Of all the construction drawings, this one should be the most fluid (no, no pun intended).

Was involved with the gateway project for Madison (I-90>E Wash>Capitol Sq) when it was first being looked at... 1) I don't see this as a "gateway" (as others have mentioned), but 2) any repairs done to any street should be more than a first aid bandage.
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That said, we still don't have a "gateway" to downtown Jville. The "build it and they will come" for the downtown just isn't visioned yet, and making the street two-way doesn't make it a destination site. There are plenty of towns with two-way streets.
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We still need an anchor for downtown - a real draw. The businesses and food service/bar venues are too local to support a real "gateway" construction job. Unless my attorney becomes well known on CNN and CourtTV, there will still be parking places on Main or Milwaukee Streets.
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Is there any action with city leaders to make the downtown a destination of it's own?

Great idea to fix it up; I agree that the area needs improvement. Please, don't give it a stupid name like "Westgate Corridor"...the whole "corridor" is (IMO) tacky-sounding and the sign's visual appeal is less-than-stellar. The Janesville city tree logo is much more attractive.

I would love to see the traffic count for River street. Just how many vehicles use it? Also how many vehicles use the parallel stretch of Jackson street? I know that since Jackson was converted to a two-way street the traffic flow has increased immensely from Racine street to Mineral Point. River street would be used quite a bit more if its condition were improved. I think that this makes way more sense than some of the ideas that have been floating around for the past few years.

Great plan to fix up the river front. First thing is to reduce the crime. And people will come.

Superdave- you are right. The Gazette is wrong.

I think a great spot for a "gateway" to the downtown are would be Milton Avenue between East Memorial Drive until it merges with Milwaukee Street. Anyone agree? Much more heavily traveled.

You are correct SuperDave... that is facing north.

I wish they would do this to a more traveled street. River isn't really that busy.

Somebody help me out here. In the picture with the construction barrel, it says "looking south". Seems to me that it should say "looking north". Save me a drive - am I right?

Well, the street may end up looking nice but what about all of the shoddy houses and buildings? Besides the hardware store, bowling alley, and Marling lumber company on the other end there really isn't much business. Why not just repave the street and find a more deserving area or a different way to spend the money. Seriously, how much traffic really uses that street?

The people complaining about this enhancement are the same kinds of people that let their yards look like crap. A city is more than streets and curbs. We need to take pride in our city and make it look like we care. As the economy pulls out of the sewer, we need to move on to the next phase of Janesville's persona. We are no longer be the GM town. We need to be the town where technology and green businesses will want to locate. We need to be a city that our kids will be proud to get a good education and want stay here. Janesville is located in a perfect spot that makes a trip to Chicago, Milwakee, Cedar Rapids, and other locations a simple trip. Let's start promoting and believing in Janesville instead of tearing down efforts to beautify areas of the city. You have to start somewhere and this seems like as good a place as anywhere. And, so what if you disagree this street is a gateway to anything at all. It will be an enhancement and investment that will do nothing but make this part of the city look nice.

Fix the road yes. Gateway? What are you? Crazy? This is just More pie in the sky thinking from those who love to spend other peoples hard earned money.

Gateway? Does this involve anything more than a sign? ...like the westgate corridor one? That is hilarious by the way. Who thinks of this? Wish I got paid to think of ways to spend money i the most non-needed way imaginable.

Northman -- great post! Why are we doing all of this park stuff? The street is in horrid condition -- why can't the city just fix the street without the frills and extra cost? The nice, wide street is a GOOD thing -- leave the width, just fix the street!

"River doesn't "end" downtown -- it goes all the way to Rockport.
and ends at the old folks apartments.
Gateway- hardly.
Need fixing FOR SURE.

@Janesvillian. I agree. That stretch of River Street is horrible and I'm glad it's finally getting some overdue attention and rebuilding.

River doesn't "end" downtown -- it goes all the way to Rockport. There's hardly more retail than Ace south of Court St., and the stretch to Racine isn't part of most legal (i.e. zoning/funding) definitions of the downtown. It is a bit of a dumpy street in its current condition and the city hopes that upgrading it will enhance it as a route to the downtown, although obviously a lot of traffic from E. Racine (i.e. 14/39/90) is going to turn on Main. The downtown vision map in question is here:
http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/Library/n...
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But the point here is that River needs rebuilding now -- it's in about the worst shape I've ever seen a Janesville street -- and so they are rebuilding it in a way that fits the visions for downtown and the city that were developed through community input and consensus last decade. That's why we went through that process, to guide the city during its future activity.
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The article is a little vague about the current status of the bike trail. The trail currently exists as signed portions of River Street between Rockport Rd. and Racine and from Rock to Van Buren. It's not clear what additional segregated trail will be built along that short stretch (the bowling alley and a few other businesses), which the city has long envisioned eventually buying and converting to parkland.
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A rain garden sounds fancy, like a rainforest with special plants, but it really is just a small detention pond that's filled in with gravel and mulch and planted on top. A dry well underneath, very ordinary plantings above.
http://dnr.wi.gov/runoff/rg/

The picture makes me think he is laughing at us taxpayers,\.

I’m not against the fix, but . . . River Street starts downtown, runs through downtown, and ends downtown. How exactly can it be a “gateway”? Racine is a gateway, as are Milton and Milwaukee Avenues. You might stretch and call W. Court Street a gateway, though it’s more of a backdoor. But River Street is just one of many nondescript downtown streets. It’s sort of like calling your coat closet the gateway to your house.