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Madison, the second-largest city in Wisconsin, is also known as ?EUR??,,????'?????<  The new, user-friendly Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard includes areas for outdoor dining. The sidewalks include colored concrete and new Littleleaf Linden trees were planted to provide shade for passersby. Photo courtsey of Schreiber/Anderson Associates The Wisconsin State Capitol is located in downtown Madison ?EUR??,,????'?????< Two landscape architecture firms Schreiber/Anderson Associates and HNTB Corporation ?EUR??,,????'?????<  The Monona Terrace at Olin Terrace, on the opposite end of Martin Luther King Blvd. from the Capitol Building. The large, flat vase-like structure is a donated fountain. These terraces serve as a ?EUR??,,????'?????< Photo courtsey of Schreiber/Anderson Associates Ordinary Street Becomes Extraordinary Gathering PlaceSchreiber/Anderson Associates (SAA) was hired to prepare design plans and construction documents for the reconstruction of Martin Luther King Blvd. in downtown Madison. The idea was to create an historic link between the State Capitol and the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center on Lake Monona. Gil Jevne of SAA and project manager, described the original Martin Luther King Blvd. as ?EUR??,,????'?????< When standing on Martin Luther King Blvd., visitors have access to gorgeous views of the Capitol building and the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Monona Terrace. The old street, however, did not do the views justice. The first job to refurbish Martin Luther King Blvd. was to remove a median from the street to make the boulevard wider. Martin Luther King Blvd. is not a lengthy street at approximately two blocks and streets adjacent to the boulevard are more than capable of handling traffic in the area. Much of this traffic is from visitors to the various government buildings in the area. Martin Luther King Blvd. features short-term parking, with parking structures in the area capable of handling longer-term parking. Precast concrete pavers were used on the project, and they needed to be strong enough to accommodate snowplows.  The double row of trees in this section of the project are Tilia cordata ?EUR??,,????'?????< Photo courtsey of Schreiber/Anderson Associates This allows for Martin Luther King Blvd. to be closed to vehicle traffic when festivals and cultural events are being held. A weekly farmers market has been a very popular addition to the downtown scene. ?EUR??,,????'?????< SAA designed a 40-foot-wide pedestrian promenade to accommodate special events, with ornamental lighting, landscaping, and special pavements. The project included a redesign of Olin Terrace as main entrance to Monona Terrace. Design of a multi-modal corridor for pedestrians, bicycles, busses, and cars, along with design of a unique tabletop intersection connecting the City and County government buildings to provide a staging area for events. ?EUR??,,????'?????< In addition to Lumec, Jevne said an effort was made to use products from Wisconsin-based companies including Wausau Tile. Little Leaf Linden and Chancellor. Jevne said as a result of this project, nightlife and pedestrian traffic has increased significantly. ?EUR??,,????'?????<  The old Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard had heavy vehicle use and few accommodations for pedestrians. The project included the removal of both the median, which widened the street, and short term parking, which helped to reduce the abundance of vehicles on the street. Photo courtsey of Schreiber/Anderson Associates Vehicles/Pedestrians Co-exist on Washington AvenueMany Capitol visitors travel from the outskirts of Madison to downtown, and Madison officials wanted to create a pleasing entrance and gateway experience along a heavily traveled, fully developed five mile urban roadway corridor. HNTB Corporation had the task of creating this type of entrance on East Washington Avenue is one of two main arterials leading to Madison, the State Capitol building and the city?EUR??,,????'?????< The project was initiated with an intensive conceptual design process that involved neighborhood organizations, schools, businesses, the City of Madison?EUR??,,????'?????<  The centerpiece and gateway to Madison, Wisc. is the Yahara River Bridge. The bridge replaced a historic bridge and the community wanted the new bridge to reflect the city?EUR??,,????'?????< Photo courtsey of HNTB Corporation 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??,,????'?????<
Project Team ?EUR??,,????'?????< Project Team ?EUR??,,????'?????< State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation staff: |
