Second Avenue: To Close, or Not to Close

The Physicians Clinic of Iowa plans to relocate from its current building near Mercy Hospital to a new medical mall that will be built along 10th Street SE, between 1st and 3rd Avenue SE.  One obstacle in the way is 2nd Avenue SE, which is a four lane one-way street that runs directly through the two blocks purchased by PCI.


PCI has proposed to close 2nd Avenue, which has been met by some controversy among residents in the community.  I am on the fence on this one, and understand both sides' viewpoints: residents like the fact that 2nd Avenue is easy access to downtown with few stops (i.e. a drag strip), while PCI would like the new building to remain a single structure rather than splitting it up between two blocks, adding cost and requiring a skywalk.


I rarely take 2nd Avenue so I have no idea how heavily it is used in the morning commute, but I have taken 3rd Avenue a few times (one-way heading out of downtown) and it never seems to terribly busy at 5 PM.  Studying traffic patterns during the evening rush, most of the traffic seems to turn onto 8th Street to access the I-380 ramp.  Both Second and Third Avenues are supportive routes; First Avenue is the main thoroughfare that is most heavily used, so the other two mostly help with congestion during peak hours.


Therefore, I don't think residents should be too heartbroken if the city council decides to close the small portion of 2nd Avenue through the PCI site.  It may be a bit of an inconvenience, but there are some positives that should be considered.  As said above, 2nd and 3rd Avenues are currently the drag strips in and out of downtown; it's not uncommon to see commuters going 45 in a 30 zone.  A streetscape project to extend from the new Medical Mall and connecting with the downtown core would help slow traffic, improve pedestrian access, and encourage more business and housing to locate in between these two bookend areas.  I am imagining something like the East Village in Des Moines, complete with infill and preservation of existing architecturally significant structures (which there aren't many of outside of the core).  There is a significant change in elevation the further northeast one goes that could provide some spectacular axial views of downtown from this streetscape.  Most importantly, a streetscaping project would serve to unite downtown with the medical district.