With the goal of better linking areas of downtown, proposals for better movement through the city’s center was a focus at a public input session last week for the Downtown Des Moines Planning project.

Transforming Walnut Street from a transit mall into an urban street with vehicle and bicycle access and a transit system is a top priority in the preliminary proposals.

“Walnut is a street that has a tired look,” said Mario Gandelsonas, the project consultant. The transit mall, he said, was a 1970s idea and now, “we would like to totally change that idea.”

The meeting is part of a one-year study headed by architect Erin Olson-Douglas, which will create a vision plan for downtown Des Moines. About 50 people attended the meeting at the Des Moines Central Library last Wednesday. A second meeting took place Thursday.

In a breakout session after the presentation, people offered feedback on movement, downtown living, recreation or development proposals. In the movement group, discussion centered on better connecting downtown to nearby areas, including Drake University, Mercy Medical Center and Sherman Hill with skywalks, transit routes or trails.

Brian Litchfield, director of program development for the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority, also said that DART is planning to have a shuttle between Meredith Corp. and the Capitol as early as next year.

Other proposals focused on expanding downtown outward from a corridor along Grand Avenue and Locust Street. Methods could include developing a network of urban bike lanes, better linking the skywalk system to the ground level and expanding the skywalks.

The vision plan will also determine the order districts should be developed “to build these urban neighborhoods that people want to live in,” said Olson-Douglas.