APPLETON, Wis. — Kara Manuel sees a lot of customers come through the front door of her store on College Avenue in Appleton.
She’s the owner of Lillians, a women’s clothing store.
“There’s amazing foot traffic. I think people come down because they want to walk around, they want to see what’s going on,” Manuel said. “We’re always changing our storefront. We have a lot of ladies that walk early in the morning to see what’s in the window, and then they come in later.”
She was initially skeptical of a plan to change the traffic flow on the street that passes through the heart of downtown, but Manuel said she’s willing to give it a try.
“As a retailer, some of the concerns are, are people going to drive down College Avenue as often?” Manuel said. “We have a lot of ladies who say, ‘I drive down College Avenue and if there’s a parking spot, I pull in and I come in.’ We don’t want to lose that traffic and is it going to get congested, and people aren’t going to want to drive down College Avenue.”
The city council recently approved a pilot project that will reconfigure College Avenue from four to three lanes.
It includes one lane of traffic in each direction, with a left turn lane in the center at each intersection through the heart of the downtown. Goals include reducing speeds and improving safety.
Jennifer Stephany of Appleton Downtown Inc. said months of discussion and study went into the decision. The impact on businesses was one of the focal points of the conversation.
“While you may see a little dip in traffic in the beginning, the majority of that will come back and then some,” she said. “It will slow the traffic a bit. Probably about three miles an hour will be the reduction.”
Under the plan, bike lanes will be added, and on-street parking won’t change. Stephany said the plan is also about walkability.
“We see this as an opportunity to increase walkability in downtown. It’s getting people out of their cars, walking around and moving downtown,” she said. “People spend money when they are out of their vehicles, not in them.”
Detractors and supporters spoke up on the issue throughout the decision-making process. Manuel said since it’s a pilot project, she’s willing to see what happens.
“Unless you try it, you’re never going to know. As long as the city [is] saying, ‘ok, this is a pilot program. Let’s try it. There are studies that show it’s a good thing.’ We’ve got to be confident that things are going to be good,” she said. “And knowing that if it’s not, they’ll change it back.”