The Village of Elk Rapids is considering closing River Street between Cedar and Dexter streets to make its core downtown district pedestrian-only for the summer. The move comes on the heels of a unanimous vote by Traverse City commissioners to approve a similar measure making two blocks of Front Street pedestrian-only, with city officials now finalizing a timeline for closure and including a downtown-wide public art project as part of the plan.

The Elk Rapids proposal, created by the Elk Rapids Downtown Development Authority (DDA), would make River Street pedestrian-only with barricades at either street end. Traffic flow would be rerouted north of River Street past the marina, into the parking lot, and on Noble. Handicap parking spaces would be increased on cross streets, with enhanced signage for parking and other amenities. The proposal calls for allowing restaurants and retailers to expand into River Street, in addition to installing placemaking elements like fire pits and pop-up parks and creating enough walking space for pedestrians to socially distance.

The Elk Rapids DDA was working on a recovery plan this spring for local businesses, according to Village President James Janisse, and “part of that included the rightful assumption that they’re not going to be able to put people in stores to full capacity – the same with restaurants and other merchants and businesses.” He says the River Street plan “popped up as other communities throughout the U.S. are doing the same thing. It’s not necessarily invented by the Elk Rapids DDA. We already close the street for things like Evenings on River Street.”

The proposal was unanimously approved by Village Council members at their May 18 meeting. But while the street closure was supposed to go into effect June 19 – and continue through Labor Day –  leaders pumped the brakes and agreed to hold more meetings for public input this week after receiving backlash from some business owners and residents. While Janisse says numerous restaurateurs and retailers on River Street were enthusiastic, some business owners either did not read or were left off DDA communications about the plans and were caught off guard by the Village Council vote.

Comments from those owners flooded onto the DDA’s Facebook page. Beehive Salon owner Nikki Staley said her business on nearby Traverse Street “will most certainly be affected” by the loss of parking downtown, estimated at 39 spaces. “I have parking issues for clients all summer, especially on Wednesday nights…I assume this is the same for other professional services downtown,” she wrote. “Many of our clients have limited mobility.” Tammy Grant of Blue Owl Antiques said her store only has front-door access for loading in items like furniture, and felt her concerns about needing nearby loading zone access were dismissed by officials when she raised them. “I personally know of at least four businesses on the street that were never informed prior to the vote,” she wrote. “Yet the DDA told the Village Council that all of the businesses on the street were in favor of the plan.” River Street building owner Bonnie Johnston suggested that the DDA consider dedicating one side of the street to parking. “Most businesses are already hurting – this will not help,” she wrote of the proposal to close the entire street.

As a result of those and other comments – plus an online petition that’s garnered over 300 signatures opposing the street closure – Elk Rapids will host a 3pm Zoom meeting Monday to take additional feedback from business owners and community members on the project. Meeting details will be published on the DDA and Elk Rapids Village Facebook pages. Village Council members will then revisit the proposal at their June 15 meeting and consider whether to continue as planned, make modifications, or drop the concept altogether, according to Janisse.

Janisse says the concerns raised by owners are “valid” and that he and other officials want to ensure the street closure will help businesses, not harm them. “The DDA certainly doesn’t want to ostracize anyone,” he says, adding that the goal of the River Street plan is to “allow people to get out of their cars, do some shopping or eat, and be with others in a non-confined space. We thought this might be a draw to help those businesses recover from being closed for two-and-a-half months. That’s the big thing. But if the public says it’s too much, or our businesses will suffer, then we could not do it.” Janisse says officials could also consider modifying parts of the plan to address concerns, such as providing a golf-cart shuttle service to assist individuals with mobility issues or considering only a partial street closure.

Meanwhile, Traverse City is preparing to move forward with its summer Front Street closure. Traverse City DDA CEO Jean Derenzy says a final timeline will be confirmed this coming week, but says the tentative plan is to close the 100 and 200 blocks of Front Street on June 22 for preparation work and reopen as a pedestrian-only zone by June 26, with State Street becoming a two-way street for the summer.

As part of a previously planned public art partnership with Up North Pride – now being adapted to the Front Street project – the city will use colored striping to denote the emergency lane down Front Street, which marks how far cafes can extend into the streets to preserve enough space for emergency vehicles. Different colored dots – spaced six feet apart as a visual cue for social distancing – will lead to different parts of the downtown district, with public art projects installed at key locations matching those color themes and created by artists associated with local nonprofits. Orange dots might lead visitors down to East Front Street, for example, where an orange public art project from Norte would be installed at The Little Fleet.

Confirmed participating nonprofits in the art project include Norte, the National Cherry Festival, Arts for All, FLOW (For Love of Water), and Crooked Tree Arts Center, with public art locations to include The Little Fleet, the National Cherry Festival office, The Cheese Lady, Rare Bird Brewpub, Hotel Indigo, and Crooked Tree Arts Center. Derenzy says the goal of the project is to create visual interest and placemaking elements throughout downtown so that visitors are encouraged to venture beyond the two blocks of Front Street and patronize businesses throughout the downtown district.