Let's just get downtown flood protection done. Second street needs to be addressed. North of 1st Ave. N, either raise the street or close it. Build a multi-function, multi-level parking structure that will also work as a flood wall. South of Main Ave, close the curved section of 2nd St. and build a permanent levee/embankment. Access to the apartment complex and High Rise could be from the north, rather than the south.
Yes, this will require intensive traffic engineering to handle the traffic volume currently carried by 2nd Street. But if the 1st Ave. North/NP one-ways are being re-engineered anyway, here is the opportunity to solve this problem as well.