2023 Optimizing Main Street Sandbox Competition

Final Submissions are due on May 15, 2023;
Two finalist teams in both the student and professional categories will be notified by Friday, June 9, 2023.
Each finalist team will be expected to send one representative to do a final presentation in Portland for the Annual Meeting and winners will be announced during the Awards Luncheon

PURPOSE

Competitors will plan and design a corridor to meet the Mayor’s Vision for the City of Neverland.

Our goal is to ensure all of our City corridors are balanced in addressing residents and visitors needs for comfortable and connected safe traveling options (walking, biking, taking transit, driving, etc.), increasing accessibility and micromobility, and providing curbside space for businesses to thrive.

The design should take into account land use, bus activity, and demographics of the corridor. Submissions will be judged on their creativity and innovation, the practicality and balance achieved by the individual ideas, soundness of their technical approach and design, and the transferability of its elements to other jurisdictions or corridors.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The goal is to optimize the right-of-way for a corridor that could serve as an example in terms of balancing corridor needs, safety, operations, mobility, equity, and livability. To make the competition parameters consistent, we will be using a one (1.0) mile long Main Street corridor in the City of Neverland with a posted 25 MPH speed limit. This corridor is hypothetical and does not exist anywhere. Information for the corridor such as right-of-way, land use, roadway characteristics, etc. are provided in a CAD-based file. The goal is to use the information provided to re-envision the corridor especially curbside activity and optimize the needs of abutters, residents, and visitors.

CHALLENGE PARAMETERS

A CAD-based existing condition corridor plan is provided that includes: (PDF) (CAD )

Existing parcel location and type

Existing right-of-way
Existing intersection traffic control (signalized vs. unsignalized)
Existing pedestrian crossings

A JPEG of existing typical section
Develop a corridor plan for Main Street that meets the following:

The existing curbline must remain in place.
Maintain all existing pedestrian crossings.
Maintain one vehicular travel lane in each direction.

You may re-align travel lanes to increase/decrease space for curbside activity in each direction within the 54 feet

Provide four (4) bus stops for each direction

Explain and justify the location of the bus stops.
All bus stops should be assumed to be 80 feet in length regardless of location.

Establish the corridor vision and goals factoring in the Mayor’s City vision.
Optimize the corridor’s curbside activity and explain and justify where you are adding each type of activity and why.

Curbside activity may include any combination of the following: shared used path/bike lanes, parking/vehicle storage, transit/bus infrastructure, pedestrian crossing infrastructure, car sharing, micromobility, ridehailing, freight, food trucks/mobile vendors, local businesses, electric charging, accessibility, and/or parklets/landscaping. For additional information, refer to ITE’s Curbside Management webpage at: https://www.ite.org/technical-resources/topics/complete-streets/curbside-management-resources/

You must provide at least four (4) accessible parking spaces along the corridor
You must provide at least two (2) corridor blocks that include flex curbside uses that change at some points during the day and may utilize technology. Explain how users will be informed of the changes.
Note the goal is not to calculate the necessary parking spaces needed for the land uses provided but rather to balance the needs and vision to optimize and activate the corridor’s curbside activity.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Fill this application and upload along with your submission (one PDF file) to the judging portal.

Each submission is limited to ten 8 ½ X 11 pages including covers, tabs, graphics, and/or images. Submitters can use an 11x17 page to present the proposed corridor design and this 11x17 will count as one page. At least one proposed cross section must be provided.
Methodology and transferability to other corridors are the keys to the competition.
The submissions have to give judges the confidence that it is a legitimate approach when it is transferred.
Explain your thought process and justify all your decisions – for example, did you include dedicated space for people biking, how and why? Why did you provide the bus stop at the locations you identified?
Submitters must articulate why they selected the approach they did.

ELIGIBILITY

There will be separate professional and student categories. Cities/agencies wishing to enter would do so under the professional category.
Teams can include an unlimited number of participants, but at least one member of the team must be an ITE member.
Please note that if you are entering in the Student Category, each member of your team must be a full-time undergraduate or graduate student.

EVALUATION OF THE ENTRIES/SUBMISSIONS

The top two teams in both the professional and student categories will be invited to present their approach and solutions as part of the ITE Annual Meeting in Portland and take questions from the audience in an open and interactive session.
Presentation guidelines will be provided to the finalists once shortlisted.
A panel of 4-6 judges will be established by ITE

CRITERIA

Corridor’s curbside activity approach including vision and goals (15%)

Criteria met and the layout of the corridor (40%)
Differentiator – any other criteria you suggest incorporating into the corridor (10%)
Transferability and adaptability of the approach to other corridors (20%)
Quality of writing and presentation (15%)

There is an expectation that one graphic will show the proposed corridor plan with curbside activities labeled. Submitters can present this on an 11x17 page instead of an 8 ½ x 11 page

RECOGNITION

The winning teams will be recognized at the ITE Annual Awards Luncheon in Portland, OR . Press and industry announcements will be issued highlighting the finalists and winners.
One paid full Annual Meeting registration will be provided to one representative from each of the two professional teams that are finalists.
One paid full Annual Meeting registration and up to $500 in travel expenses will be provided to one representative from each of the two student teams that are finalists.
The entries from the two winning teams (professional and student) will be featured in an issue of ITE Journal.

Other innovative submissions may also be highlighted in ITE Journal and included on the competition web page.

QUESTIONS? Contact Kathi Driggs.