Pedestrians walk a pavement path between the Tennessee River and the Tennessee Aquarium in this file photo. The 21st Century Waterfront was completed in January, 2005.POSSIBLE WATERFRONT IMPROVEMENTS
A consultant briefed the city last week on several potential improvements to the 21st Century Waterfront:• Raised crosswalks, called pedestrian table crosswalks• Trees planted in the area• Building an information building with public restrooms• Providing access to the river• Construction of more boat slips, especially for smaller watercraft
Even as the city looks at repairing the 21st Century Waterfront, there could be even more room for improvement.
Larry Zehnder, administrator for the Chattanooga Parks and Recreation Department, said the waterfront is underused by the public and he wants to find out how to make it a more desirable destination.
“We probably do have more of a problem down there than we really realize,” he said.
The $120 million Tennessee River showcase opened to great fanfare in 2005, but there have been problems ever since. The city had to fix The Passage, a water feature at the waterfront, at a cost of $1.6 million. An estimate last week to fix the concrete edge of the riverfront ran between $4.8 million and $7.8 million.
But a study conducted over the last several months by Seattle-based landscape architects Jones & Jones looked at how the park could become more user-friendly.
Charlie Scott, a landscape architect with Jones & Jones, gave a presentation to the City Council last week about the park, offering several possible improvements that could help draw people in.
He said Friday they are only “ideas.”
They include planting trees, building more boat slips and some type of walkway down to the river for people to be able to touch the water. He also talked about having some type of information center with public restrooms.
The most controversial idea was a suggestion of building raised sidewalks — called pedestrian crosswalk tables — to go across Riverfront Parkway.
“They’re kind of an elevated speed bump,” he said.
He said he suggested putting them at four already established crosswalks and building two or three more with the purpose of slowing down trucks and cars to make the area more pedestrian-friendly. They also would provide more connection between the Tennessee Aquarium and the waterfront, he said.
But Councilman Manny Rico said he thought the crosswalks would be asking too much. Tractor-trailers that use the road would start using downtown streets, creating traffic problems, he said.
“There’s no way we could do that,” Rico said.
Councilman Russell Gilbert, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Committee, said he doesn’t mind the crosswalks. The big thing he worries about, he said, is how to pay for these types of improvements.
“Right now, I don’t think we have the capital,” he said.
Zehnder said he is asking for $8.6 million this year for a full fix of the waterfront. He said he is also talking to some of the potential construction companies about whether they could make a proposal that would include the cost of the repairs and the improvements.
“Hopefully, we can do this within that,” he said.