Title
Assessing the Impact of Potential Road Closures on 8th Street in Downtown Boise
Document Type
Student Presentation
Presentation Date
4-15-2019
College
College of Business and Economics
Department
Department of Economics
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Samia Islam
Abstract
The rapid growth of Boise, Idaho has brought congestion to the roadway infrastructure, especially in the heart of downtown. The section between Main and Bannock on 8th Street houses local restaurants and the Egyptian Theatre, an essential part to downtown Boise. On September 30, 2018 CCDC gave the two city blocks mentioned back to the City of Boise. Now as part of the new urban renewal district, the city can experiment with placemaking using these two integral downtown blocks. Eliminating automobile traffic within these two blocks would have significant impact on the local restaurants, residents, and businesses (Idaho St intersects 8th St between Main and Bannock and will not be closed). Our group will distribute three online surveys concerning how a potential closure of these two blocks would affect them. One for business located on the two blocks, one for residents of the Idaho Building, and a third for the pedestrians who use the street. We will also be doing research on similar closures and analyzing their successes or failures. Additionally, our research will identify the positives and negatives to pedestrian-only streets and what that means for Boise. Using a combination of research on pedestrian-only roadways, their impact, similar closures, and local feedback, we expect to provide some recommendations to the City regarding the closure of closing 8th street between Main and Bannock to car traffic.
Recommended Citation
Hurlburt, Ryan; Neff, Hailey; Croome, Sophie; and Thomas, Aaron, "Assessing the Impact of Potential Road Closures on 8th Street in Downtown Boise" (2019). 2019 Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Conference. 72.
https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/under_conf_2019/72