Osage

Garden City has requested improvements to Osage and Stockton incorporate three principal objectives: safety enhancement on Chinden; congestion mitigation on Chinden, and facilitation of economic development through safety, comfort, the replacement of water infrastructure (on Stockton), and increased access to businesses.

Garden City’s Comprehensive 7.1.5 states: Re-develop Osage and Stockton streets as shared mobility corridors that are attractive for pedestrians and bicyclists while maintaining access to local businesses. Consider the opportunities for an art pathway and one-way direction for each street.

Chinden will always carry a high volume of traffic and is a significant regional vehicular corridor.  However, roadway improvements are needed to reduce detrimental impacts to adjacent businesses and mobility within Garden City.  Garden City has had dialogue with Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) concerning the safety of multiple access points entering Chinden Boulevard. ITD has indicated that that for safety purposes they would prefer and endorse limiting access onto Chinden Boulevard utilizing Stockton, Osage, and Fenton streets as to access Chinden businesses from the numbered cross streets. Utilizing these streets to access the businesses on Chinden will assist in the overall traffic flow of Chinden, allowing for better regional movement of traffic benefitting all the cities in Ada/ Canyon County.

 

Over the years, the city has received comments from representatives from the schools, safe routes advocates, and parents noting that there are children who have no other option than to go to school by bicycle or walking. Parents have also noted that they would allow their children to go to school via bicycle or walking if there were safe alternatives, but currently due to lack of safe infrastructure, they drive (or bus) their children.

 

While the Greenbelt offers a low stress option for those walking or biking, access is limited to that which is directly adjacent to the Greenbelt. Furthermore, the Greenbelt is seeing more use and conflicts between recreationalists and commuters, further necessitating options for commuters.

 

Osage provides, perhaps the most straight forward east-west alternative to the greenbelt.

Also, since 2013 Garden City has identified a need for a Bicycle and Pedestrian Spine (Art and History Path) in the annually adopted Transportation Needs List.  The pathway anticipates recreational bicycle and pedestrian use, with adjacent art and or historical signage.

This concept was born from requests from business owners, including a group of artists, requesting a way where patrons of one business can feel comfortable visiting their business and moving to the next business via walking or biking.  In 2017 Garden City and Urban Renewal partnered with Riverside Hotel, CTA Architects to install wayfinding signs on the greenbelt identifying artisans.

This path would be a signature feature for Garden City and assist in place making strategies.  Additional wayfinding signage could be placed along this route as an economic development strategy. 

Stockton and Osage are roads that have been suggested as roads to be a part of this spine.

Additionally, Garden City has 4” waterlines in Stockton Street, limiting water delivery. Replacement of these lines is a top priority in Garden City’s capital improvement plans to insure adequate fire flow for current and future development. Increasing the line size within Stockton would allow for the potential of increased property values in the areas serviced by this line.

Bringing Stockton, Osage, and Fenton to ACHD local street standards is cost prohibitive due to right-of-way acquisition needs. Due to these constraints’ treatments need to be done within current right-of-way widths.