Landscape Contractor / Design Build Maintain

NOV 2013

LC/DBM provides landscape contractors with Educational, Imaginative and Practical information about their business, their employees, their machines and their projects.

Issue link: https://landscapecontractor.epubxp.com/i/210216

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 7 of 55

Hardscapes PAVERS•MASONRY•BLOCKS•ROCKS Overachieving Underpass An Eau Claire, a town of 66,500 in west central Wisconsin, often ranks high on quality of life lists. In 2013, the Wall Street Journal's Money Watch designated the city as one of the best places to retire in the United States. The town's quality of life comes in part from Eau Claire's strong pedestrian and bike plan, recognized in 2012 by the American Planning Association with the Wisconsin Northwest District Recognition Award. In 2009, the Eau Claire city council approved an $8.34 million project to return the old highway that runs through town to its former life as a landscaped boulevard that was bicycle and pedestrian friendly. U.S. Highway 53 ran through the city and connected with neighboring Altoona, and had become dangerous over the years. Called Hastings Way after its 1916 configuration, the artery was returned to the city by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation when a new U.S. Highway 53 bypass was constructed in 2007. "It was an older commercial area with strip malls, geared toward autos, and was very unsafe for pedestrians, as it became a central hub for the east hill neighborhood," said Douglas Derks, deputy city engineer. The Chippewa Falls, Wis., office of engineering firm SEH Inc., held a series of public meetings to present design options, including roundabouts, Top: Completed in fall 2012, the Fenwick underpass in Eau Claire, Wis., provides a safe crossing for pedestrians and cyclists in a high traffic area. Tiered segmental retaining walls with plantings make the entrances inviting for passersby and match hardscapes at the adjacent streets and shops. Left: Multi-level walls provided a visual contrast to the six-foot-high retaining wall at street level. Trees, plants and shrubs planted within the tiers create an interesting, inviting entrance and mitigate stormwater overflow, assisting with runoff handled by the municipal storm system that runs beneath the underpass. 8 LC DBM (Continued on page 10)

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Landscape Contractor / Design Build Maintain - NOV 2013