After several months and more than 700 comments, Short Elliott Hendrickson, the company hired by the city as consultant for the Hastings Way project, is ready to unveil redesign possibilities at a Sept. 9 meeting.

“You’ll actually see some alternatives of the roadway,” SEH engineer Randy Sanford said. “We narrowed it down to a four-lane facility, and added options like green space, trails, and things like that that fit with the area. They’re not recommended or preferred options, just ones we’ve interpreted from what we’ve heard in public input.”

SEH and the city have hosted two public input meetings thus far, fielding comments from businesses, landowners, and concerned residents. The September meeting will focus on what information has been gathered, Sanford said, and the 10 to 12 design concepts they put forth should reflect those comments.

“We’re hoping to come up with some consensus on the alternatives as well as on issues of walkability, bikeability, aesthetics… things like that,” Sanford added.

The September gathering (once again at Regis High) is the penultimate public input meeting. It will include a “like, dislike, how-would-you-change-it” portion as it relates to the redesign ideas, and engineers will work for another month based on that input for a final meeting in October. The plan is to break ground in 2011.

For those who cannot make the meeting, however, Sanford said they will put the redesign images online (at www.sehinc.com/online/eauclaire/) and encourage more input.

    Hastings Way Public Input Meeting #3 • Thursday, Sept. 9 • 5-7pm • Regis High School Auditorium, 2100 Fenwick Ave.