Good evening, citizens of Portsmouth, and welcome to our special call meeting.

Umward to the discussion.

Want to welcome all of the citizens that are in the room.

Also wanna acknowledge our city staff that is here with us.

And want to uh acknowledge Mr.

Carter, Stephen Carter, who's our city manager, Mr.

Derek Challenger, our interim city attorney, and Miss Deborah White.

Of course, always want to acknowledge my colleagues here on council.

And with that, I would ask to my colleagues on council, please note your attendance electronically.

Six members of the city council are present.

Thank you, Miss White.

And look, before I turn it over to Mr.

Carter, I want to say I'm really looking forward, and I hope that all my colleagues on council are looking forward to this presentation tonight.

We have a vision for Portsmouth.

And the vision is about being a walkable city where we can enjoy retail, dining, and all the other amenities that are enjoyed by cities.

And so I am excited about the opportunity to be here today and listen to what is going to be presented to us.

With that, sir, I'll turn it over to Mr.

Carter.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good evening, everyone.

Have our city attorney not sorry.

Mr.

James Wright, who's gonna lead this presentation for us.

James.

Um to tie into our existing fiber infrastructure.

Um the primary goal of this workshop tonight is to apply lessons learned from city council's trip to Greenville, South Carolina, um and the tour that they took um while they were down there.

Um this session aimed to translate Greenville's success in multimodal safety and uniform streetscaping into a conceptual vision for corridor spanning from MLK down to Chestnut Street.

With that, I will turn the presentation over to our to our team from VHB, Miss Kirsten Tinch to go over the details for tonight's meeting.

Thank you.

Welcome, Ms.

Tinch.

Thank you, Mayor.

Welcome.

Glad to be here tonight.

We're gonna have a very short presentation before we get to the interactive portion of this evening.

So well, that didn't go well.

Anybody know what happened to the person.

There we go.

All right.

Let's try that way.

All right.

So good evening, and welcome to tonight's uh high street innovation corridor charret.

Um we're grateful to have this opportunity to be here with you tonight to really talk about what um what we're like to accomplish along the high street corridor and get your perspective on on this uh essential process.

So it's about building a shared understanding of the corridor's needs and opportunities.

We'll be exploring design concepts and alternatives together with a focus on identifying strategies that can revitalize the high street corridor in a meaningful and long long lasting way.

We're also here to uh here to hear from you about the guiding principles that should shape this design corridor.

Your input will help us prioritize the improvements that will enhance safety, improve mobility, expand access, and of course support long-term economic growth.

As um Mr.

Wright mentioned, this corridor has uh undergone several preliminary studies, and including the development of the rebuilding America infrastructure with sustainability and equity, or the RAISE grant study.

This effort explored a complete street um opportunity for high street and identified a series of design elements focused on improving safety, mobility, and overall user experience of the corridor, both motorized and non-motorized.

The successful RAISE grant awarded 19.3 million in federal dollars toward the corridor improvements, supporting a project with a preliminary estimated cost of about 24.125 million.

Design development is planned for spring and summer of 26, followed by a public hearing in late summer of 26, and going for advertisement in uh fall of 27 and then construction in 2028 through 30.

The project is estimated to be completed by May of 3030, 2030.

The raise grant included a proposed typical section shown on the screen, and you'll see it on some of the boards as we go around here tonight.

The key features included two-lane roadway with a uh raised median, parallel on street parking, pedestrian combinations that were significantly enhanced, and with wider sidewalks, shared use path, and space for future streetscape amenities.

And as we look at the boards, we'll go into different sections as we go around here tonight.

You'll see some additional details that we can discuss at those at those stations.

So, based on your visit to Greenville and some conversations with the city engineer, we've looked at a couple of other options that we bring in here tonight to present.

So, this first alternative includes angled parking on both sides of the road, that raised median, which increases the total amount of available parking spaces.

However, this configuration does remove the on-street bike accommodations as well as a shared use path.

This uh does allow us to work within the existing right-of-way, but as I said, it does reduce the overall usable sidewalk space available for the non-motorized users.

The third option that we have here today is more of a hybrid of one and two.

It has angled parking on one side of the roadway.

This does allow us to still increase the the available parking and give us more usable handicap and and hardscape and pedestrian space on the south side of the roadway.

This expanded sidewalk zone can support business growth, including opportunities for outdoor dining, cafe seating, and enhanced streetscape amenities.

This option can also be modified to incorporate the shared bike lane uh bike vehicular lanes as well as, but that would impact the available cafe or outdoor seating areas.

So the way the charred is set up here tonight.

We have four stations.

Uh, they are looking at the alternative typicals that we just showed on the left-hand side, those alternatives one, two, three.

We have some interactive temporals, so we want you to come and say what are the amenities that are important to you.

Take a look at we have a uh a uh gridded typical that you can actually play with different options that are important and see how that impact impacts the curb line, see how it impacts the overall uh right-of-way of the of the corridor with those types of improvements.

In the back, we have uh plan view of the different three alternatives, what it looks like on a plan view for on the long along the entire length of the corridor, and in the final station, we actually have different types of amenities, streetscapes, features that could be incorporated.

We'd like to get your feedback on what you like, what you don't like, and so that we can consider that as we go into the design process.

The really the purpose here is to document your feedback, get your city council council as well as the citizens that are here with us tonight.

We have comment sheets um at the front that can also be collect any physical comments that people want to write.

And the goal is really to come out of this with a uh preferred alternative so that we can move forward and into that design process.

So um these are the three key members that you're feel free to reach out to.

Um but we have a number of design professionals that are and planning professionals that are here to interact with you today.

There's at least two people at each station that really can have that conversation.

So we ask that you kind of break up into the do the stations maybe in a little bit different order so that we can get some um great feedback and have some dialogue throughout the entire process.

So that is extended.

I answer any questions before we get into that or feel free to come down and join however you want to proceed.

I think we're ready to execute.

Okay, I said there's four different stations.

Feel free to come down and join our journal team.

I should have had to be off the rest of the time.

Um, very much data referred to.

So I've been bothering it.

I'm not gonna draw it.

It's not the call.

Yeah, the first one.

And then we're going to be shallow that's going to be a good thing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, we're like, you want to work out on that?

That doesn't mean I'm like, how would I have to do it?

Oh, yeah.

That one I could have sworn I told you.

This one I wonder if anyone might be something here, but I was like, I was telling us.

I don't think I did.

I'm pretty sure I did.

Did you get in right?

Although I just want to make the chart.

Um, that's right.

Yeah, yeah.

Let me go.

I think it's like that.

No, I'm going to show you how to say how to give a bad still.

I was going to say that is why I started seeing it.

Okay.

All right, so my area was the port symbol.

Christopher's graphics.

Then copy that.

So I opened Christopher's and then I opened his file.

I did not download it.

I copied that image, which is in the cloud.

And I put it in there, that's why it's a preview image.

But I then downloaded it, copy paste it.

Oh, by the way, your image didn't appear.

I think it's not there.

I know I know that you didn't think talking about it before.

Oh, I think it's more interesting.

She just says I'm leaving higher system.

So not have the share of the thing.

Oh my gosh, yeah.

We use it there's you can't hear, I mean it's just the video is like anything supposed to be one screen.

No comments.

I see a pop on the comment when I see it pop on pair or do some power.

Yeah, we have two text that would be things they come with things.

Oh, I don't know.

I mean you're talking about three carbon alliance.

So I guess because they want it back in the house.

No, I just went to like some of the three.

Oh yeah, um we have to be about like we also need to know whether you guys want to do this right thing.

I want to use that right.

I would like to be put a class like that.

I know, because I was like doing conflict census and stuff would be.

Yeah, I said that like if that's why I think probably did so.

Make sure the others are reviewing us because I think we just missed it.

Yeah, because I like to say that's uh that you don't have to find the show.

I spent it on January second.

Uh there was nobody else.

So the uh you don't have the side.

So I now know why they didn't get it to the property.

No, it's okay.

I think I watched January description.

I didn't know that.

Always include ancient.

Oh, it's like and I don't have I think we want to fly.

Oh, yes, you want it.

You're talking all the pair or maybe put something there that does the buildings come down and do that.

Just show their things out.

So of your report when you were talking about all the properties in that area.

What's saying about the properties?

And then we have other stuff that's well we want to so I can put in my report to cover.

And then maybe she and then we can get the first time.

But she might want to make a month three.

I'm thinking there.

But we just want the information to show that you know there is like a building now.

I mean, maybe that's that's kind of hard.

I can drive them.

I wouldn't love for you to or just like throwing it.

I'm gonna go to the Roger Brown Super Bowl party draw, but actually, oh you know what?

We're having a there's a giant Facebook group of all the people who just work around around, and we're gonna go there on Saturday.

Sunday.

Yeah, I thought I'm glad there's a Saturday because Monday.

Yeah, I like the picture.

Uh some good years around here in two.

Huh?

Well, we don't need to add for two.

That's what I started working here.

I hate to do it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, I guess it just chores.

So I think we have staying party too.

Oh, you're gonna like.

It's not as common as a different week, just as nice if they can make your face and get on the moon.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Whatever you lose.

Yeah.

Thanks for reset.

I got one.

Six hundred and seven.

At least it's outside the cabinet.

Actually, what do you want?

I get it now.

I like that.

I think that's what you do though.

That's exactly right.

I like that.

I think we need more rest of the screen.

Storytelling.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I would like all the trees on the street because they have like all the words with street lights with the bottom of the file.

I said that has something to go to the left hand body.

I'll get my lawyer.

I told her I got all these things coming out.

It's a line.

Yeah.

Okay.

We can have a campaign.

Why don't we do a touch of light and multiple?

Or we'll call it the uh challenge.

It could be a bucket challenge.

Yeah, we find this one.

Very buildable.

Yeah, we'll find out.

Yeah, it takes better.

I think the people in London put them in because they were thinking it's two twenty.

You've been working so hard to our line.

Okay.

I guess it's just right.

And in some areas just spread also.

I want to be a bad actually.

That's my primary one like that.

So it's always interesting.

What's from the right?

Let's keep going.

So when we go and get started, man.

Okay, well that's what I'm talking about.

That's the reaction.

Well, they won't let us construct the happy.

But make no make no small play.

We make a big play.

I don't know.

I mean, this is what I mean.

I mean the side of the question.

Oh, I got the car.

Good.

That's probably new.

Yes, I guess.

I don't know what I like to call it.

But you know, how would the name of our IT for that for the cover?

So the button or yes, I think that was very important.

So over a bunch now.

Throughout the process you start so much account.

So we need to do it.

Someone actually wanted to have a card.

This is based on the little bit of the urgent from the original plan.

So this is what we done underround survey.

Well working for one thing.

Ladies and gentlemen, no, no, hold on, hold on.

I I need to make a statement.

Um, we want to bring all of the council members back on up to the days so that we can go ahead and adjourn the meeting.

Folks are welcome to stay and continue conversation, but in the interest of time and and and the weather report, we wanted to be mindful of making sure that we got everybody out if they wanted to leave at this time.

Okay.