Landscape Architect Articles

Mill Town to Chill Town08-23-22 | Feature

Mill Town to Chill Town

An attractive downtown area featuring period architecture, unique retail businesses, and the Assabet River with adjacent open space
by Jef Fasser, BSC Group

A variety of plant materials including Stella D'Oro Daylilly, Sargent's Juniper, and Flower Carpet Rose provide various textures and year-round interest at this roundabout on Main Street in Hudson, Massachusetts. The light pole in the center was reused from the original roundabout. The size of the roundabout is 6,000 square feet, and the inner circle is 2,000 square feet. Increased greenspace, more controlled traffic, and better pedestrian access required subtle changes to surface and structured drainage which reduces the area of water concentration at the roundabout and down-hill roadways.

Significantly wider sidewalks and crosswalks provide comfortable pedestrian spaces adjacent to retail businesses and allow restaurants to provide outdoor eating options to customers. Modern wayfinding is different from traditional wayfinding because smartphones guide users to the venue from a distance. Today, wayfinding is an on-the- ground experience oriented to pedestrians. The exploratory, wider walkways, where parking spaces used to be, are necessary to make wayfinding natural. The clock on the right side of the photo was an existing feature donated by the rotary club that needed to be refurbished and reinstalled as part of the new roundabout.

The main Riverwalk between South St. and Houghton St. is over 1,000 linear ft. with a 500 linear ft. branch between the main Riverwalk and Main St. along Danforth Brook. This section of the project is four acres, with plans to expand, and is approximately three blocks away from the roundabout. It provides two educational and three wayfinding signs about the Danforth Brook's ecology made by the Landscape Architect, Favermann Design, and a sign fabricator. There are also 13 bollard lights that are designed to limit disruption to natural areas placed along the path by the river.

Trees planted in the Riverwalk area were selected to diversify the wildlife habitat and were planted by volunteers. Some were collected as seeds and some as bare roots. A variety of trees were planted around this area, including Black Cherry, Black Walnut, Grey Birch, Black Birch, Hackberry, Black Willow, Catalpa, Tamarak, Shagbark Hickory, Smooth Hickory, White Oak, Sycamore, A. Basswood, and Speckled Alder. Associated Shrub species include: Chokeberry, Winterberry, Gray dog, A. Hazelnut, and Buttonbush.

The concrete pavement in this section of the Riverwalk has its base stabilized by layers of geogrid and separated from soil by geotextile, similar to the base of pervious pavement, and is reinforced with glass fiber due to the proximity of water from the nearby Danforth Brook. This pavement provides universal access to existing park elements like this splash pad and the steel gazebo. There are also two new, accessible picnic tables.

The town has turned alleyways between retail buildings along Main Street into attractive pedestrian connections by adding to the walking experience with planters. Found within the natural fieldstone planters are Hostas and Shade annuals.

The roundabout is made from Scofield colored concrete stamped with a paver texture. This provides a durable surface that can support heavy traffic as it guides the primary flow of traffic while also allowing large trucks and emergency vehicles to navigate the roundabout safely. Despite being smaller, the old vertical granite curb was prone to scraping and even blowing the tires of larger vehicles creating the necessity for the new design.

Plant bed buffers next to streets help create comfortable sitting and socializing areas for pedestrians. Tree plantings along Main Street include: Hackberry, Princeton Elm, Sweet Gum Tree, and Red Maple. South St. plantings include: Honeylocust, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Sweet Gum Tree, Cleveland Select pear, Lilac tree, and J. Pagoda Tree.

The new complete street improvements provide a welcoming gateway into downtown Hudson while mitigating potential traffic problems. 25 crosswalks were made wider and easier for vehicles to see, bike lanes were integrated into the main road around the roundabout using shared symbols and signs, and 20 parking spaces were removed to reorient Main Street towards pedestrians by increasing the size of sidewalks. Material options were reviewed and selected through a public outreach process and guided by historic district standards.

The total project spanned 15 acres including the roundabout and the Riverwalk. The primary design decision for the downtown roundabout and roadways was to reorient the public right-of-way away from vehicle access and toward pedestrian access as well as commercial activity. This push for access applies to the Riverwalk, and the decision to extend it and use it to provide off-road access to the river. In the process, designing for socialization grew to include the need for connection to nature and stewardship of nature across the urban environment. Complete Streets guides were applied, options for traffic pattern changes were studied, and the community was engaged in discussions about values, priorities, utilization, and practical needs, all in favor of creating a streetscape that fits the town of Hudson.

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Formerly an active mill town that was once home to 17 shoe factories, Hudson, Massachusetts, boasts an attractive downtown area featuring period architecture, unique retail businesses, and the Assabet River with adjacent open space. Thanks to a recent economic resurgence, downtown buildings have been filling up with more eateries and businesses. To support these recent investments, and attract additional businesses, Hudson officials decided to address an uninviting pedestrian network and lack of access to the river, while accentuating placemaking elements.

The Vision for Downtown

In framing Hudson's vision for the revitalization of its downtown area, BSC Group, a design firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, in collaboration with the town, undertook a rigorous public engagement program, which was recognized by the New England Chapter of the American Planning Association for its creativity and comprehensiveness. Residents and businesses alike voiced a strong desire to rebrand the downtown area to have a distinct "urban vibe" that would distinguish it as a premier destination for shopping, dining, and leisure. Throughout the planning and design process, two priorities emerged as the key considerations behind all decisions: safety and enhanced pedestrian circulation. A walkable downtown in the Complete Streets model was selected as the preferred design direction.

Dominated by a large central roundabout, the downtown's initial traffic configuration was treacherous for pedestrians and bicyclists. To help reflect the downtown's preferred personality, BSC's design included neckdowns, which are raised curbs at intersections, and channels. Both added to slow vehicular traffic, while effectively directing movements to preserve the roadway's functional capacity. Crosswalks were incorporated at all legs of the roundabout. Traffic islands were installed to provide shelter during crossings. Wider and accessible sidewalks were created, and new lighting, furnishings, planting, and material were included to reinforce a sense of place. Space for outdoor dining was added wherever feasible and was immediately put to use as local restaurants responded to seating limitations imposed by the response to COVID-19.

Riverwalk Uniqueness and Innovation
Hudson has a tremendous open space resource running through its downtown - the Assabet River. This valuable amenity was hardly visible due to the excessive growth of invasive species and lack of pedestrian access. To enhance the downtown as a destination for a variety of uses, the town embarked on a project to make the river more visible, accessible, and ecological.

This phase added 1,100 feet of new, ADA-compliant pedestrian walkways including a composite deck over a wetland, pervious pavement in the floodplain area, and steppingstones down to the river for stabilization at an informal kayak launch. Later this year, an additional 850 feet of pathway will be added to the Riverwalk with multiple river overlooks. The new walks provide accessible connections to features such as a splashpad, playground, game tables, sanitary facilities, bike trail, gazebo, pedestrian bridge, retail space, and skate park.

The highlights of the Riverwalk project are the removal of invasive species, stabilizing the riverbank, and creating a very diverse ecological environment between the river and pedestrian walkways. The on-going project goal along the river is to create a Functional Biomimicry of Old Growth Forest by copying nature's design and providing assistance to the many species of animals and plants that call this river home.

Recognizing the relative difference in the health, diversity, resiliency, and climate benefits in Old Growth Forests, the Assabet riverbanks and buffer zones are being improved by adapting some of the characteristics of a mature forest into the current conditions and adding a number of ecological features to support species that would otherwise need to seek other locations and put greater population pressure on the remaining undisturbed resources.

Bird boxes were designed to support small native songbirds and exclude predators and nest parasite birds. Bat boxes were added to provide a clean, safe living space for bats right next to the river for optimal foraging away from buildings that can be hazardous to bats. There are also bumblebee nests that are armored to provide dry, safe nesting space where our most productive pollinator can grow. These are also designed to be uninviting to ground wasps, a lower value pollinator, and incompatible with the urban environment. For the smaller creatures, brushy thickets and nurse logs, that mimic natural wind fall by retaining and repurposing cleared brush, were added as they provide cover, cooling, refuge, and a stable armature for pupa and webs. There are also tick tubes that add dry, treated bedding for rodents to find and use. This slows the rate of infection in the adjacent species without creating population imbalances.

Invasive species management, which includes the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive species, is being completed using a combination of a contractor and local volunteer manual weeding efforts in addition to the initial root mass removal. The goal for this heavily trafficked and observed area of the river is to maintain a critical mass of native plants and act as a roadblock for the movement of invasive species up and down the river corridor. Perhaps more important than the physical changes performed here are the cultural changes that were advanced by performing this work with volunteers and educating the community about the process and goals. Helping people understand themselves as part of a living community and increasing their awareness of ecological choices will return benefits beyond the project area. With the health of urban ecology being incremental and recursive, either magnifying or diminishing naturalized landscapes, Hudson has chosen to magnify.

Role of BSC Group and Consultants
The Downtown Hudson Rotary and Streetscape Project is the achievement of an interdisciplinary team of planners, engineers, Landscape Architects, and contractors who worked collaboratively with the Town of Hudson's Public Works and Planning staff and an engaged group of local residents and business owners.

Team List:
Leadership - Town of Hudson:
Pam Helinek Asst Director of Planning and Community Development/
Conservation Agent
Kristina Johnson, AICP Director of Planning & Community Development

Project Consultant - BSC Group:
Project Manager
Casey Lee Bastien RLA, CPSI Landscape Architect, Habitat Designer,
Senior Associate
James "Jef" Fasser, RLA, AICP, LEED AP Principal Vice President,
Planning and Landscape Architecture
Design Team
Bill Paille, PE, Traffic Engineer
Ricardo Austrich, RLA, Manager of Landscape Architecture
Tanya Pande, Landscape Designer
SingNing Kuo, Landscape Architect, RLA, ASLA
Dominic Rinaldi, PE Engineering Manager, Senior Associate
Ingeborg E. Hegemann, PWS | Sr. Consultant
Ale Echandi Ecologist, BSC/ MA Department of Conservation and Recreation

Research and Development
Truman Cavallaro, NH CWSA Ecological Scientist, Specialist in
Wetlands Ecology, Permaculture Design, and Mycology microembolization)
Matt Burne, PWS Senior Ecologist (habitat)
Sarah Barnum, Ph.D.,
CWB Threatened and Endangered Species Specialist (habitat)
Kyle Merchant Civil & Environmental Design, (Phyto-remediation)
Gillian Davies, PWS, SSSSNE, NHCWS,
CESSWI Senior Ecologist/Natural Climate Solutions Specialist,
Visiting Scholar, Global Development and Environment Institute,
Tufts University President, Society of Wetland Scientists, Professional
Certification Program President 2016-2017,
Society of Wetland Scientists (soils)