Dixieanne Neighborhood Clean and Green Alley Projects
Background
Dixieanne Neighborhood Clean & Green Alleys is a project to clean and beautify at least 3,000 linear feet of public right-of-way on any of 23 residential alleys in the community of Old North Sacramento with permeable interlocking pavers, fencing repairs, shade trees, and public art in order to enhance the neighborhood and to encourage community gathering and active transportation. While the primary function of alleys throughout Sacramento is to provide access to the rear of properties, the low volume of traffic and narrow widths allow alleys to also function as safe, low-stress corridors for pedestrians, bicyclists, and even casual play.
Alley Clean Ups, Community Workshop and “Map Crawl”
A special thank you to Sacramento Picks It Up, the Sacramento Regional Conservation Corps, and the Dixieanne neighbors that joined us for the two clean up events to remove trash from the alleys, a community workshop to inform residents of the project, and a map crawl to collect feedback from residents on the proposed improvements to the alleys.
Staff Recommendation
The City of Sacramento has been collecting feedback since August of 2022 through an online community survey on the Dixieanne Clean and Green Alleyways project in North Sacramento. 68 surveys had been collected by March 14, 2023 with 52 self-identifying as residents or property owners in the area.
Survey participants shared their preferences for various project components, including paver installation, alleyway gate removal, shade trees, fence improvements, and art installations. Interestingly, there was a near-even split among respondents for replacing existing gates with bollards and keeping the existing gates. A similar trend emerged for artistic options, with decorative pavers and mural installations garnering comparable levels of support.
The most notable finding from the online survey responses was the pressing need to take action and enhance the condition of residential alleyways in the Dixieanne neighborhood.
To facilitate further community engagement, City staff organized a series of eight 30-minute pop-up mapping events on Saturday, January 28th, held on major residential alleyways throughout the Dixieanne neighborhood. Residents were informed in advance by mail and signage was posted days before the event to encourage participation. Sacramento Regional Conservation Corps members also knocked on doors immediately prior to each pop-up to remind neighbors of the event. At each location, residents were encouraged to discuss their specific alley and pinpoint significant areas on an oversized plotted map dedicated to that alley. This interactive exchange allowed residents to offer more nuanced and detailed perspectives, leading to a richer understanding of the needs and preferences of the community.
During the pop-up mapping events, residents expressed their views on a variety of topics, including gate-to-bollard conversions, prioritizing pedestrian access over vehicular traffic, the heat island effect resulting from paver installation, and the resilience of paver art when subjected to car-related impacts.
Taking into account the feedback received, the soil conditions determined by core sampling, and established best practices in alleyway activation, City staff has developed recommendations for paver installation, paver art locations, gate-to-bollard conversions, and bollard artwork installations as indicated in the subsequent map. Property owners along the recommended alleys will also be contacted to potentially receive grant-funded shade trees and fence repairs as part of the beautification effort. Finally, signage discouraging illegal dumping will be installed throughout the neighborhood.
Dokken Engineering has been contracted to complete the Final Design for the alley improvements by Fall 2023. Construction is tentatively scheduled for Spring of 2024 with completion prior to June 30th.
Staff is in the process of contracting for an Art Consultant who will be responsible for assembling a panel to select artists and designs for the artwork that will be installed in the neighborhood. This process should begin Summer of 2023 and conclude by Winter 2024.
SHARE YOUR OPINION IN THE COMMUNITY SURVEY
Contact the Project Manager
Fedolia "Sparky" Harris, Principal Planner
fharris@cityofsacramento.org
(916) 808-2996