The Streetscapes Issue of Landscape Architect and Specifier News saw many firms submit their projects for feature consideration. This project was not chosen for a Feature in the issue, but we at LandscapeArchitect.com thought the project deserved to be showcased online . . .

 
Birmingham's main downtown thoroughfare is 20th Street, connecting Five Points South, passing through the "Heaviest Corner on Earth" (home to four 10- to 21-story "skyscrapers" built in the first decade of the 20th century), and continuing to the city's civic living room that includes Linn Park, City Hall, the Jefferson County Courthouse, Linn-Henley Research Library, and Birmingham Museum of Art. During the street's last renovation in the early 1970s, concrete curbs, raised planters, built-in seats, and brick pavers were added. Streetcar tracks were replaced by a landscaped median, and on-street parking was removed in favor of two travel lanes with pull-offs for bus stops. Damaged sidewalks and crosswalks presented numerous trip hazards. Shrub plantings had morphed into masses of overgrown "bread loaves," underlain by networks of rat tunnels. Shifting transit patterns meant some of the bus stop pull-offs were no longer needed and were used instead as personal parking spaces, while some places the buses did stop required riders to walk through landscape areas. The street had become a place for cars instead of people, prompting a need to restore the street to a safe and welcoming place where people feel invited to support local restaurants and businesses.
REV Birmingham, a local revitalization and economic development nonprofit, took the lead in making the refresh a reality, including convincing city leaders to support and fund a major capital project. In the spring and summer of 2020, REV invited several Birmingham landscape architects to present ideas for rebuilding one of the 8 blocks between the Railroad Reservation and Linn Park. In the fall of that year, the Alabama ASLA chapter used Park(ing) Day to complete a test installation on a quarter block of the corridor that implemented many of their ideas, including re-striping the traffic lanes. REV provided informational signage and QR codes users could scan to take a survey about the improvements.
In early 2021, REV Birmingham issued an RFQ to complete construction plans for the project, to be completed in time for the World Games in July 2022, and selected RULD to lead the project. By the time the project scope was finalized and documented for bidding, there remained barely more than 260 days from the date construction could start to the opening of the World Games.
The 20th Street Refresh focused on reclaiming space on the street for people, by reducing travel lanes to one in each direction, and taking space for bike lanes and an adaptable, color-blocked FLEX lane on each side that allows short-term parking for access to local businesses. Crosswalks were completely replaced, using brick pavers for the striping pattern. Bus stops were filled in with a compacted aggregate surface and used for movable caf?(C) seating and rocking chairs, protected with colorful plants in large, self-watering containers. With the exception of mature canopy trees, all the planting was replaced with native and adapted plant species that were already performing well in other well-loved public spaces in the city.
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