The design phase of a multi-year effort to revitalize the Chartiers Avenue business district in McKees Rocks is almost complete and poised to move onto the construction phase.

Residents, business owners and local elected officials had the opportunity Dec. 2 to view the plan, ask questions and make suggestions about the design work being done by Lami Grubb Architects of Pittsburgh.

The firm has been working on plans to reconfigure Chartiers into a destination site featuring new restaurants, office space, housing and entertainment venues.

A grant from the Allegheny County Economic Development Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund is paying for the design work.

“This is the next big piece of the puzzle to revitalizing lower Chartiers Avenue,” said Taris Vrcek, executive director of the McKees Rocks Community Development Corporation.

The community development corporation launched the effort several years ago with a series to meetings attended by residents and borough officials to explore ways to improve the business district.

“The borough has been a fantastic partner,” Mr. Vrcek said.

Jonathan Glance, the lead designer on the project with Lami Grubb Architects, said a huge difference has already been made with the recent conversion of Chartiers into a two-way traffic pattern.

“The one-way traffic pattern created a super highway with cars driving too fast through town,” Mr. Glance said.

Also planned are new street lights, bump outs, street trees and other amenities like benches and new trash cans.

“Bump outs are another term for curb extensions, widening the sidewalk at key locations,” he said. They also feature street trees and other plants that absorb storm water and add greenery to the street, Mr. Glance explained.

The bump outs play another important role when it comes to traffic.

“The wider the street, the faster people drive. The bump outs give the perception of a narrower cart way, and help help slow traffic. They make it safer and easier for pedestrians to cross the street,” he said.

McKees Rocks police chief Robert Cifrulak said that business owners have told him they were concerned the bump outs would take away parking spaces on the street, but Mr. Glance said the curb extensions were designed to prevent that.

Mr. Glance also sees opportunity to give the street a more welcoming feel by cleaning up the retaining wall, painting the railroad trestle at the intersection with Island Avenue and installing better lighting under the trestle.

Another important gateway to McKees Rocks is the area near the Father Ryan Arts Center on Chartiers, he said.

The plan envisions trees, other greenery and a small park near the Arts Center, which he called a great amenity that attracts visitors to McKees Rocks from a wide area.

In conjunction with redesigning Chartiers, the community development corporation commissioned a marketing study by Delta Development to identify opportunities for businesses that want to locate on the avenue.

Mr. Vrcek said there is a large unmet demand for special types of restaurants that could draw people.

The marketing study identified strong demand for low-cost flex office space for people expanding their home business or for businesses that want to open a satellite office in the Pittsburgh area.

Mr. Glance said the Pittsburgh area also is the No. 1 market in the country for new apartments.

“This is an opportunity to attract new residents to bolster the new businesses,” he said.

The plan envisions better connections of the residential areas in McKees Rocks with the business district by adding new steps, walkways, and perhaps even a dedicated bike lane on West Carson Street.

“Bike infrastructure is critical to put us on the map,” Mr. Vrcek said.

First Published: December 11, 2014, 5:00 a.m.