Public invited to ‘Corbin Forward’ meeting to discuss downtown streetscape plan

How should downtown Corbin be transformed to make it more desirable place to live, work, walk and explore?

The first of three “Corbin Forward” meetings will take place this Thursday at 6:00 p.m. and is planned as an effort to come up with answers to those questions and more.
The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

Corbin Main Street Manager Andy Salmons said Thursday’s meeting will serve as a “the dreaming phase” of an effort to craft a streetscape master plan for downtown. Representatives from Carman and Associates, a Lexington-based landscape architecture and civil engineering firm, will be on hand to listen to ideas and guide the discussion.

Carman and Associates has been hired by the city to put together the streetscape plan. They were one of several firms to answer a “request for qualifications” some time ago to head up the project. They will be paid $60,000 to do so.

Salmons said he’s excited to work with the company because they put together the city’s bike plan and provided plans for the redesign of a municipal parking lot on Depot Street.

“Anybody that wants to contribute to this discussion is encouraged to come. We want you there,” Salmons said. “We are going to dream and talk and be hopeful and put ideas out there, and hopefully come up with some good solutions.”

Salmons said the main focus will be on things like: “what sidewalks should look like,” pedestrian access and walkability, how to encourage a safe, natural flow of traffic; what sort of green spaces or park areas should be downtown, and how can “wayfinding” be improved to help visitors better explore Corbin and “encourage the act of discovery” in the city.

Salmons said Carman and Associates already has good “contextual sensitivity” regarding the kinds of things that would work and be acceptable in Corbin.

“I think they have a good feel for where we are going and what we want to do,” he said.

“The plans they provide, like with the parking lot project, have a lot of detail and a great level of precision which allows us to do some of the work in-house. It’s exciting having them on board.”

The meeting will take place in the main meeting room at city hall.