Napa Valley Register - Bypass money will offer much more than flood control
June 26, 2013
By Napa Valley Register Editorial Board
Perhaps appropriately, a rare June rain was falling in Napa on Monday when news came that the long-awaited federal funding for the Oxbow flood bypass channel had finally been secured. Rep. Mike Thompson announced that $16.6 million had been allocated to the project.
With or without a flood, big things are about start happening to downtown Napa.
This bypass channel will provide much more than just flood protection.
It will help create a more cohesive downtown hub. With the bypass, the Oxbow Public Market, the former Copia site, the Wine Train and numerous other businesses east of Soscol Avenue become more visible, more accessible and a more prominent part of the downtown experience.
The Downtown Specific Plan, approved in 2012, places great emphasis on this eastern edge with the hope of creating a more seamless economic link across Soscol Avenue.
The bypass will accomplish exactly that.
When not protecting area businesses and residential areas in times of flooding, the bypass will be a park. It will provide a tourist-friendly route across downtown. No streets, bridges or traffic lights will impede a stroll from the Opera House to the Oxbow. It will have kayak launches. Lawn areas will be home to games of catch and Frisbee. Crowds will gather for public events, concerts, plays and other entertainment and recreational activities.
The 9.5 acres of bypass will become downtown Napa's central park.
Its construction will reinvigorate sites like the former Cinedome, which sits just to its northwest, and will likely help further the development of new hotel proposals on the east side of Soscol.
Oxbow Public Market creator Steve Carlin may have explained it best in business terms. The bypass channel will turn a liability into an asset, he said last year.
New and established merchants throughout downtown will benefit from bypass construction, as will both residents and tourists.
These next steps in Napa's flood work may well prove to be downtown's next big economic catalyst, the latest in a series of economic boons the flood project has wrought.
Without the work done to date by the Army Corps of Engineers and others, the downtown landscape would be very different. The flood project was at the genesis of today's revitalized downtown. Without it, there would be no Riverfront development, fewer food and wine destinations, little if any city tourism.
The total estimated price tag for the bypass is $23 million. This $16.6 million in the Army Corps work plan will get the project well on its way, but more funding will eventually be required.
Members of the Napa County Flood Control District â€" like Napa Mayor Jill Techel and Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd â€" have been working toward this announcement for several years, lobbying for this money at every turn. As recently as March, Dodd and Techel were in Washington, D.C. to make their case to federal officials. In that trip alone, Napa flood officials had nine meetings in two days.
All of that work has finally paid off.
The bypass channel is essential flood protection for the city of Napa. And because of its innovative design and function, its benefits do not start and end with the weather.
With or without a flood, big things are about start happening to downtown Napa.
This bypass channel will provide much more than just flood protection.
It will help create a more cohesive downtown hub. With the bypass, the Oxbow Public Market, the former Copia site, the Wine Train and numerous other businesses east of Soscol Avenue become more visible, more accessible and a more prominent part of the downtown experience.
The Downtown Specific Plan, approved in 2012, places great emphasis on this eastern edge with the hope of creating a more seamless economic link across Soscol Avenue.
The bypass will accomplish exactly that.
When not protecting area businesses and residential areas in times of flooding, the bypass will be a park. It will provide a tourist-friendly route across downtown. No streets, bridges or traffic lights will impede a stroll from the Opera House to the Oxbow. It will have kayak launches. Lawn areas will be home to games of catch and Frisbee. Crowds will gather for public events, concerts, plays and other entertainment and recreational activities.
The 9.5 acres of bypass will become downtown Napa's central park.
Its construction will reinvigorate sites like the former Cinedome, which sits just to its northwest, and will likely help further the development of new hotel proposals on the east side of Soscol.
Oxbow Public Market creator Steve Carlin may have explained it best in business terms. The bypass channel will turn a liability into an asset, he said last year.
New and established merchants throughout downtown will benefit from bypass construction, as will both residents and tourists.
These next steps in Napa's flood work may well prove to be downtown's next big economic catalyst, the latest in a series of economic boons the flood project has wrought.
Without the work done to date by the Army Corps of Engineers and others, the downtown landscape would be very different. The flood project was at the genesis of today's revitalized downtown. Without it, there would be no Riverfront development, fewer food and wine destinations, little if any city tourism.
The total estimated price tag for the bypass is $23 million. This $16.6 million in the Army Corps work plan will get the project well on its way, but more funding will eventually be required.
Members of the Napa County Flood Control District â€" like Napa Mayor Jill Techel and Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd â€" have been working toward this announcement for several years, lobbying for this money at every turn. As recently as March, Dodd and Techel were in Washington, D.C. to make their case to federal officials. In that trip alone, Napa flood officials had nine meetings in two days.
All of that work has finally paid off.
The bypass channel is essential flood protection for the city of Napa. And because of its innovative design and function, its benefits do not start and end with the weather.
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