How much more walkable can Depot Town be?

Ypsilanti’s Depot Town is far from the picture of new urbanism, but one of the many things the historic business district has going for it is walkability.Most of its commercial storefronts are still intact and filled with an eclectic variety of businesses. It is closely connected to local parks and neighborhoods. Its streets have low speed limits and don’t serve as major arteries in the region, like Huron Street in downtown Ann Arbor. Depot Town even scores in the high 80s out of 100 when it comes to its Walk Score.”It’s one of the most walkable areas anywhere in southeast Michigan,” says Brian Vosburg, director of the Depot Town Downtown Development Authority. But it still has a thing or two it can learn when it come to accommodating pedestrians — which is the very reason the city of Seattle’s Peter Lagerwey stopped by Depot Town last week. The walkability expert made a couple of suggestions on what the city center can do to improve and prepare for the future Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail station.Among the recommendations are connecting all four corners of the East Cross and North River streets intersection with crosswalks, and paying special attention to the train tracks that bisect it.”We wanted to assess it from a safety stand point,” Vosburg says.Lagerwey also recommended expanding the sidewalks on Cross and River streets. The city is applying for federal fund to create curb bump outs to accommodate that.Source: Brian Vosburg, director of the Depot Town Downtown Development AuthorityWriter: Jon Zemke