The University Avenue Corridor Study Ordinance met with some resistance at the Monday night Urbana City Council meeting.

While the Somerset Subdivision annexation project was approved to be carried to next week’s city council meeting for the final vote, some city council members and residents spoke with opposition to the lack of components in the proposed study.

According to the memorandum, the study would be for University Avenue, which extends from State Street in Champaign to Maple Street in Urbana. The goal of the study is to promote redevelopment of the road, emphasize safety for commuters and provide an attractive reconstruction of the roadway. University Avenue is an east-west road connecting the city of Urbana, the University and the city of Champaign.

Dennis Roberts, Ward 5, said the road redevelopment plan would consist of safe walking paths, improving major intersections, inserting elements of beautification, sites for public art and information kiosks. The architects for this plan are the same ones that worked on the Cunningham Avenue road.

However, Gary Cziko, 30-year Urbana resident, said he had mixed feelings about the proposed study because of the lack of bicycle transportation means for its residents. He suggested that the plan should include protected bike lanes, green strips along the road for bicyclists and roundabouts.

Charlie Smyth, Ward 1, agreed with Cziko about the lack of bike infrastructure.

“It’s where we like to be going,” Smyth said. “It’s a problem with lack of 21st century planning. I’m not ready to accept this and I won’t be supporting this acceptance.”

Roberts further explains what the study entails for the city.

“The design has been proposed to enhance the University Avenue,” Roberts said. “I think their (the architects) suggestions are reasonable. They’re features that can be achieved by the city’s budget.”

Robert Lewis, Ward 3, said the plan is “looking at development over time to determine some degree of continuity.” He added there will be different themes along the avenue to correspond with that specific area. If an intersection were to take on a hospital theme, there would be symbols of hospitals to identify the area that a resident is in.

“It helps you have a vision for the future,” Lewis said. “I think it will give them a vision of what the city is trying to do and (it will) draw everybody together. It’s a tool to achieve a degree of continuity along the way.”

Eric Halvorsen, transportation planner, said the redevelopment study will show how buildings along the corridor will develop over time. There will be five villages: Downtown Champaign, Champaign Urbana, Provena/University, Carle and Urbana Village.

“Each village is centered around a common theme,” he said.

Halvorsen added that the road would be a benefit for Urbana and its residents. He said the city needs to take advantage of the roadway’s potential.

“University Avenue is one of the most heavily traveled east-west roads,” Halvorsen said. “The full potential of the roadway hasn’t been realized yet.”