Neighborhood and public acceptance of the project developed through the conceptual design allowed the city to move seamlessly into final design.

The project extends approximately five miles from the East Town Mall (I-90 / I- 94 area) to the foot of the capitol square at Blair Street. The project was designed and constructed in five separate phases with design starting in 2001. Construction of the project was phased over five years to minimize disruption to local businesses along the corridor.

The final phase of construction is scheduled for Spring of 2009.

One of the first challenges was to design a roadway system that not only handled the pressure of daily automobile, truck and bus traffic, but also created a pedestrian and bicycle friendly movement system.

The roadway corridor presented many design challenges for the transportation engineers producing a number of neighborhood requests that included saving the substantial street tree planting that existed along the route. Careful planning and design was required to preserve the existing shade trees along the route because the roadway needed to be widened within the existing right-of-way. A minimal number of the existing shade trees were lost at major intersections where turning lanes needed to be added, but the balance of mid block trees were preserved along the street edge maintaining a mature vegetative frame for the view to the State Capitol. Where street tree replacements were required plantings relied on Miyabe Maple, Freeman Maple, Sienna Glen Maple, Hackberry, Redmond Linden, Ginkgo and Skyline Honeylocust. In areas where overhead wires were a consideration Serviceberry, Musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana), Prairiefire Crab and Japanese Tree Lilac were utilized.

The Yahara River Bridge makes two bicycle connections along the river?EUR??,,????'?????<
Photo courtsey of HNTB Corporation

Landscape planting was generally limited to the medians. Use of perennials, ornamental grasses and ornamental trees create the visual unity along the medians. Ornamental grasses consisted of Karl Forester, Adagio Maiden, and Heavy Metal. A variety of daylilies and asters provide color through the summer and fall seasons.

Irrigation for median plantings is accomplished by hand utilizing city maintenance crews. Hose bibs are installed in each median planting bed and if conversion to an automatic irrigation system is desired the connection point already exists for future upgrades.

Bus travel was improved through enhanced transit stops and new custom transit shelters. Bicycle travel also needed to be accommodated within the corridor. Refuge islands in the median were sized to accommodate a bicycle or large stroller. Some median openings were eliminated and replaced pedestrian crossings only. Perennial landscaped beds marked these pedestrian crossing areas.

An expanded project area adjacent to the Yahara River along an existing parkway was restored utilizing tree and shrub species originally specified by landscape architect John Nolen in the Yahara River Parkway Master Plan updated in 1911. The city Parks Department had maintained copies of the original planting plan so research for recreating the Yahara River Parkway was relatively easy for the design team.

The landscape architects utilized the median as the visual connecting element for a series of signature bridges. These bridges will become the city?EUR??,,????'?????<

Landscape planting on the Washington Avenue project was generally limited to the medians. The use of perennials, ornamental grasses and ornamental trees including Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry, Ivory Silk Tree Lilac, Autumn Blaze Pear, Prairie Fire Crab and limited use of Flame Amur Maple created visual unity along the medians. Ornamental grasses consisted of Karl Forester, Adagio Maiden, and Heavy Metal. A variety of daylilies and asters provide color through the summer and fall seasons.
Photo courtsey of HNTB Corporation

The heart of the project is the new bridge construction along the corridor. The design team of structural engineers and landscape architects collaborated with the city Engineering, Planning and Parks Departments to create a signature look for the bridges ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The team created conceptual designs for the bridges focusing on a ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The Yahara River bridge design details include pedestrian overlooks with integral planters for annual plantings (irrigated) and custom light towers with a motif that is a reflection of an existing cut stone detail used on a state office building in downtown Madison. Custom wheat pattern in the fencing, light guards for the pedestrian underpass and buff staining of the concrete structures with accent staining of reveals and lettering create a naturalistic motif and pedestrian friendly structure.

The pedestrian / bicycle bridge utilizes similar design detailing and the planting visually blends the pedestrian bridge with the renovation of Starkweather Creek. Concrete formliners (Minnehaha Blend pattern) were utilized for the cast-in-place concrete retaining walls along the pedestrian bridge ramps. Solid color acrylic stain for the stone pattern matches Madison?EUR??,,????'?????<

Design details for the bridges include custom light towers with a motif that is a reflection of an existing cut stone detail used on a state office building in downtown Madison. A custom wheat pattern was used in the fencing and light guards for the pedestrian underpass.
Photo courtsey of HNTB Corporation

The final bridge on this project is currently under design and will also utilize the same series of details and color scheme. The final bridge (Highway 30 bridge) is located in the center of the project and is scheduled for construction in spring of 2009.

Public input was critical in developing every design feature for this project. These features needed to be acceptable to the neighborhoods as well as the city?EUR??,,????'?????<

The designers were able to meet the requirements of tree preservation, pedestrian and bicycle movement, public transit, improved aesthetics, landscape development and gateway structures to create a corridor worthy of leading travelers to the State Capitol.

Washington Avenue text by Tom Kindschi, ASLA, Senior Landscape Architect / Urban Designer ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Project Team ?EUR??,,????'?????<
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Streetscape Design & Monona Terrace Main Entry Promenade | Downtown Madison, WILandscape Architecture Firm: Schreiber Anderson Associates (SAA)
Firm Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Project Manager: Gil Jevne, ASLA

Project Team ?EUR??,,????'?????<
The design team led by HNTB consisted of:
Tom Kindschi ?EUR??,,????'?????< Ed DeLara ?EUR??,,????'?????< Carolyn Stuessy ?EUR??,,????'?????< Thomas Dougherty ?EUR??,,????'?????< Kelly Lamb ?EUR??,,????'?????< Tony Shkurti ?EUR??,,????'?????< Mark Mathu ?EUR??,,????'?????< Heather Anders ?EUR??,,????'?????< Larry Nelson ?EUR??,,????'?????< Rob Phillips ?EUR??,,????'?????< Bill Bauer ?EUR??,,????'?????< Archie Nicolette ?EUR??,,????'?????<

State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation staff:
Jan Bennett ?EUR??,,????'?????< Vu Thao ?EUR??,,????'?????<