Landscape Architect Articles

First Avenue/Speer Boulevard05-01-94 | News

First Avenue/Speer Boulevard

Improvement Project

Existing creek access ramps were retrofitted with historic period ornamental iron railings for safety considerations. the design of the highly detailed railing is reminiscent of railing found in historic photographs of the Speer corridor.

The First Avenue/Speer Boulevard corridor is an unique connection between downtown Denver and southeast Denver. The western half of this six-lane arterial corridor was originally developed in the early 20th century during the ?EUR??,,????'??City Beautiful?EUR??,,????'?? era under the direction of Mayor Robert Speer with the intention of linking Cherry Creek (which it followed) with boulevards that led to the city?EUR??,,????'???s major parks. Landscape Architect George Kessler was cornmissioned by Mayor Speer to plan and design the system of boulevards, including Cherry Creek Boulevard (now named Speer), and his design elicited the classical romanticism of the ?EUR??,,????'??City Beautiful?EUR??,,????'?? era by creating a formal, linear boulevard with strong orientation to the pedestrian.

The Gilpin Street median element was designed as the highest in the hierarchy of design elements to discourage left turns. Flowering trees were designed as part of all the gateway and feature elements for strong seasonal interest.

Views to the formal gardens of Alamo Placita Park on the north edge of Speer Boulevard were greatly enhanced with the removal of overgrown and unattractive plantings. Pedestrian movement along the boulevard is encouraged with the new stone staircase, which created new access to the gardens from the detached sidewalk.

By the mid-1950?EUR??,,????'???s, First Avenue was widened to its present six lanes, and the intersection at Downing Street was reconfigured with the inbound and outbound legs of Speer Boulevard to create a continuous traffic corridor. An incongruous median was left on First Avenue and it became as neglected as the whole of Speer Boulevard up to the late 1980?EUR??,,????'???s. With the arrival of a regional fashion mall just east of the project boundary, a neighborhood group coalition and the City administration managed to include a wide ranging project for traffic mitigation and beautification improvements along the corridor in the 1989 Capitol Improvements Project Bond Issue election. Bond election language legally required the corridor to be improved in three ways: beautification, neighborhood traffic improvements, and noise abatement. Upon passage of the election, the primary intentions of the project became to enhance the original, historic character of the boulevard, to renovate the corridor to a formal, linear boulevard reflective of the ?EUR??,,????'??City Beautiful?EUR??,,????'?? era ideals, and to protect the residential historic district neighborhoods adjacent to the corridor from the impacts of existing and future traffic volumes. Goals of the project are as follows:

NOISE MITIGATION:

Reduce overall noise levels while maintaining neighborhood character
Protect or enhance neighborhood values and maintain historic district integrity

NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC Improvements:

Discourage cut-through traffic in the neighborhoods
Reduce average speeds in the corridor and on neighborhood streets
Improve safety in the corridor and on neighborhood streets

BEAUTIFICATION:

Preserve and enhance historic integrity; respect historic design criteria.
Reduce visual impacts of traffic
Restore and beautify corridor

The role of the Landscape Architect was that of lead consultant for the project, coordinating and managing the entire project and subconsultant team through all design phases, from data collection and analysis to project implementation, including an exhaustive public involvement process. The team consisted of architectural and landscape architectural historians whose research documented turn-of the-century conditions and uncovered archival photographs to base design decisions upon an acoustical engineering consultant monitored existing noise levels in the corridor and computer modeled the effectiveness of noise mitigation alternatives; a lighting consultant tested lighting concepts against Illumination Engineering Society standards for glare and illumination levels; transportation planners analyzed traffic volumes and identified neighborhood traffic mitigation alternatives; and a civil engineering subconsultant provided base information and civil support for proposed improvements.

The central element of the median feature was the six-foot-diameter precast urn. Pedestrian lights and identical detailing of the precast elements helped unify first avenue with Speer Boulevard and Alamo Placita Park.

Over sixty existing trees were transplanted or removed from the first avenue median and the new, more formal street tree plantings were meticulously worked around the existing tree canopy.

With the involvement and direction of the City?EUR??,,????'???s Department of Public Works, in conjunction with the Planning Department, the Parks and Recreation Department and the Landmark Commission, the project team developed recommendations to serve the improvement goals of the project which were advanced through conceptual design, construction documentation and implementation.