WACO, Texas (KXXV) — A new parklet opened Saturday in downtown Waco, marking the completion of the first project in the "Six to Fix" regional safety demonstrations aimed at making streets safer across local communities.
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The outdoor space sits on Washington Avenue outside Be Kind Coffee, fulfilling a goal of owner Alex Sanchez to create a community gathering space around the building.
"I think this is going to be a great thing, not just for us, but the surrounding businesses and the people who live around here," Sanchez said.
The parklet is part of the Waco Metropolitan Planning Organization's Six to Fix safety demonstrations, funded by the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant through the Department of Transportation.
Dr. Mukesh Kumar, director of Waco's MPO board, said the project creates what planners call a "third space" – a place that is neither work nor home – for the community while potentially making this section of street safer.
"It's a very different way of thinking about transportation," Kumar said.
"In this case, what it does is that it has a major traffic calming effect. It is also a pleasant enough space so that when people see it they are interested in it."
Kumar explained these projects explore how streets can become part of daily community life rather than simply routes for getting from one place to another.
"We already have the baseline data of how the traffic moves on Washington and after this we'll be collecting data again and see how the traffic has shifted since then," Kumar said.
Five other demonstration projects are planned for locations including Hewitt Drive, Loop 340 in Bellmead, La Salle Avenue, US 77 in Robinson and South Valley Mills Drive.
"We're hoping that this leads to building more things like this in the city and just kind of show people what's possible whenever you care about the things that are going on in your city," Sanchez said.
Waco's MPO plans to continue work on the remaining five projects, with more construction expected to begin in the summer, though no set timeline has been established for the demonstrations.
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