West Lafayette downtown plan ready for its close-up
What’s next for West Lafayette’s new downtown? A proposed plan lays out a map of grid streets in the levee area, a Harrison Bridge roundabout and more
Dave Bangert
WEST LAFAYETTE – What’s in store for what West Lafayette is calling its new downtown?
A new 106-page downtown plan that offers ideas about a new grid street system close to the river, a redesigned Harrison Bridge and ways to protect pieces of West Lafayette’s history in the process will get a once-over Wednesday night, before heading to the West Lafayette City Council as soon as February.
“This really is something that’s going to be our map for the future,” said Mayor John Dennis, who has been talking about developing a new downtown for West Lafayette since he was first elected in 2007.
“This doesn’t get into specifics about what is going to go where or even when all of this is going to get done,” Dennis said. “This will give us an idea of what’s possible and open up the door to a huge wish list.”
The plan has been in the works since 2018 at the request of the West Lafayette City Council. Ryan O’Gara, Area Plan Commission assistant director, the plan has been a chance to think big for 262 acres that includes the Chauncey Village area near Purdue and the Wabash Riverfront, bound by the Wabash River and Grant Street, Tapawingo Drive to the southern edge of New Chauncey Neighborhood.
The APC released early versions of the downtown plan over the summer. O’Gara said most of the fundamentals in the block-by-block maps haven’t changed greatly since then.
Here are some of the features of the plan.
GRID STREETS ON THE LEVEE: Dennis said that a downtown started from scratch would be set up looking like a downtown – “with streets on a grid, like Lafayette has right across the way.” The plan envisions a more seamless transition from downtown Lafayette into West Lafayette, rather than the current strip mall-styled development that evolved over time. The proposed downtown plan shows streets going through existing businesses, including Levee Plaza, between River Road and Tapawingo Drive. O’Gara has said the street grid would be laid out as land is redeveloped in the next several decades.
READ THE PROPOSED WEST LAFAYETTE DOWNTOWN PLAN
HISTORIC TOUCHES: The plan suggests making the Village the city’s second historic district, offering it similar protections and restrictions set for New Chauncey Neighborhood to the north.
The plan calls for ways so historic buildings – including the Miller Building at Northwestern Avenue and South Street and the Louis Sullivan-designed “Jewel Box” bank building at State Street and Northwestern – don’t get dwarfed by high-rises in the future. The plan has a formula for building height that wouldn’t allow new developments to be twice as tall as neighboring historic buildings.
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NEW DESIGNS FOR HARRISON BRIDGE: The plan looks at a couple of ways to make Harrison Bridge blend in better with the new downtown. Both ideas involve roundabouts.
In the first concept, a roundabout would go where the mix of off-ramps and on-ramps to and from River Road are now. That would keep the cloverleaf north of Harrison Bridge, but it would get rid of the on-ramp heading toward Lafayette. With that plan, south of the bridge and east of River Road would be clear for development.
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In the second scenario, all on- and off-ramps would be eliminated by putting a roundabout where Harrison Bridge and River Road meet. River Road would be raised and Fowler and Wiggins streets – the one-way West Lafayette streets that feed Harrison Bridge – would be lowered to create a roundabout.
PUBLIC SPACES: The plan imagines several blocks set aside as greenspace to offset the city’s trend toward taller, denser projects. Among the suggested spots: the corner of Northwestern Avenue and Wiggins Street, across from the new Hi-Vine development; near the corner of Brown Street and River Road; at the corner of State Street and Chauncey Avenue, where a Chipotle restaurant sits now.
FOR MORE FROM THE PLAN: To read the full plan, go to jconline.com and click on the link to this story.
IF YOU GO: The Area Plan Commission will hold a public hearing on the West Lafayette Downtown Plan at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15, at the County Office Building, 20 N. Third St. If recommended by the APC, the plan would go to the West Lafayette City Council as soon as its Feb. 3 meeting at the former Happy Hollow Elementary School, 1200 N. Salisbury St.
Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.