I support the 2nd Concept design because it will improve safety for everyone. Most of the arguments have been made elsewhere; I'd like to add two distinct items:

1. I understand that the engineers intend the current Concept 2 design, with curb-extensions on only one side, to "drive pedestrians to one side", which will be extra-lit. But: look for example at Poplar between St. John's Lutheran Church and the NAG theater, where there is lots of activity on many weeknights throughout the year. No one going to the NAG will walk north, away from the NAG, to cross the street. The city needs to make all four crossing directions safe.

2. I would like to respond specifically to a concern about whether the new design will improve safety for people using bicycles on 2nd. It will. I often use both 2nd and 3rd by bike, and also the downtown streets with the new bump outs. The streets with bump outs are safer for everyone, including me and my kids using bikes, because people slow down.

While I certainly appreciate the prior comments, as a member of St John's I would respectfully state that Mr. Nitz and Pastor F. don't live in the neighborhood. I do...and what I do know is that there is a lot of traffic on 2nd St in general...but there are also semi trucks that are avoiding the traffic light at 19 & 3 that come down 2nd St. Some of this traffic goes on 3rd St to avoid that light in lieu of 2nd St...thus, adding the bumpouts on 3rd St will likely make the amount of traffic choosing to use 2nd St even worse. Furthermore, I am the Chair of the Raider Derby during our DJJD Celebration. This intersection of Poplar & 3rd is a linchpin to our road course for the soapbox derby cars for this event. Last year was our most successful turnout we have ever had with 50 participants. It certainly seems that with bumpouts that the kids will not have ample room to turn in this corner.....thus deeming our current course unusable for the event. Please contact me with any queries.

I support the 2nd Concept design because of its added features slowing traffic and creating safer crossings, especially at Poplar between St. John's Lutheran Church and the NAG theater, where there is lots of activity on many weeknights throughout the year.

I frequently walk from the east side across the highway between home and work, and have found the new pedestrian crossing across Highway 3 to be a vast improvement for safety. (I still find that crossing at 2nd street is dicey, even though it has a stoplight). However the aesthetics once you cross to the west side still leave a lot to be desired. Creating a more neighborhood-like feel on the blocks closest to the highway with the median and plantings, as well as slowing the downhill traffic, will continue that improvement and make it much more likely that someone might consider walking the short distance from the river to the institutions on the west side.

I am a west side resident and member of St. John's church. I appreciate the city's willingness to promote designs that increase pedestrian safety. I support the general design of option 2 but also ask the council to consider (i) having bumpouts on both the east and west sides of the Poplar/3rd street intersection (between St. John's and the NAG Theater where both sides of the intersection have significant pedestrian traffic) and (ii) making the drop-off zone in front of the theater handicapped-accessible. I support the concept of bumpouts because my experience as a driver on Washington and on Division is that I pay closer attention to my speed and to watching for pedestrians because of them.