75C - PH - BRISTOL EIR FROM WARNER TO ST. ANDREW

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The pop.... ed widening of Bristol Street will have a positive effect upon the -os visual quality of the streetscape by providing a uniform appearance to the public improvements. Uniform improvements will provide visual continuity which is lacking in the existing streetscape. The roadway improvements will also include a substantial amount of additional landscaping within the public right -of -way which will help soften the often harsh and utilitarian appearance of an urban arterial and provide an amenity for the street. The proposed project will also present an opportunity to place existing overhead utility lines underground, thereby reducing the visual clutter of the existing streetscape. The proposed street widening project will have a significant impact upon many of the properties fronting Bristol Street, which will subsequently produce a substantial effect upon the appearance of these properties and the appearance of the streetscape as a whole. The project would require the full acquisition of . _. numerous parcels along the street under any of the widening alternatives. These properties would be removed of development, resulting in vacant, ° "leftover" parcels alongside the widened roadway. The treatment of these leftover parcels will substantially affect the visual character of the street. The larger of these parcels could possibly be redeveloped satisfactorily with new commercial or residential projects, but the smaller remnant parcels would .. likely produce substandard projects of marginal quality if they were attempted to be redeveloped. Some of these parcels might be sold to adjacent property owners and used as an expansion area for existing development. Another possibility is for these remnant parcels to be incorporated into a large landscaped parkway adjacent to the widened roadway. The creation of such a parkway would dramatically alter the appearance of the streetscape by extensively introducing a naturalistic element to the street in the form of substantial roadside landscaping. Mitigation Measures W 1. Consideration will be given to placing existing overhead utility lines .. along the street underground as part of the proposed project. 2. A coordinated theme will be developed for landscaping and improve- ments within the widened street right -of -way. 3. A strategy will be developed for the use and treatment of remnant parcels adjacent to the widened roadway, in consultation between the Project Area Committee (PAC) and City staff. IV-44 75C -179