What to expect from Virginia Street placemaking study

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Soon there will be new additions to one of Reno’s busiest streets.

Reno’s City Council approved of the downtown Virginia Street urban placemaking study that was presented by a firm called Gehl.

There is a three-phase plan that will provide more protection for bikers, places to park your car, shade at public plazas and calm traffic speeds. There are more improvements to be done. The main purpose is to create a network.

“It’s all about the connectivity, it’s not just about one street. And that’s the way we have been looking at this for years, it’s just like one street at a time,” said Kerrie Koski, the city’s engineer. “I’ve been working with Dale and the RTC and we went, we’ve got to concentrate on the network.”

There were some concerns raised regarding the fluidity of the plan and the urban style. “One concern I have is, we introduce an urban design being on Virginia Street, and it conflicts with the overall continuity of aesthetic that we have established downtown. Cause then you start to look really sloppy,” said Jenny Brekhus, a council member of Ward one.

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