Cedar Park staffers, aided by consultants hired by the city to assist with the study, said they will use public feedback from meetings with residents and Bell business owners to refine proposed redevelopment ideas, which could alleviate traffic challenges and help form a new downtown district for retail, restaurants and event venues.
About 200 people gathered at a public meeting April 7 to learn about concepts that could be part of Bell redevelopment. City staffers and Rebecca Leonard, a consultant with landscape architect firm Design Workshop, presented possible redevelopment ideas at the public meeting. The concepts include developing the 12-acre Buttercup Creek Natural Area and moving Bell to replace Old Hwy. 183, leaving about 40 acres for the new district. Leonard said the city does not have cost estimates for these concepts, only rough ideas of what the choices would cost.
“None of these are going to get built tomorrow,” Leonard said. “These are just ideas. … [You can] tell us where we’ve come close and when we’re a million miles away from the mark.”
Study goals
The Bell Boulevard study has six goals:
- Enhance the city’s identity through the project
- Invest in ways that profit the city and businesses
- Create an energized and vibrant business corridor
- Grow the area’s green space and natural offerings
- Improve access while alleviating traffic on the highway
- Draw support from developers as well as businesses and landowners
