It wouldn?EUR??,,????'???t have been strange to see George Washington or Thomas Jefferson strolling the brick sidewalks of Annapolis, Maryland in the 1780s when the city served an eight-month stint as the nation?EUR??,,????'???s capital. Today, one is more likely to see tourists, recreational sailors and midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy walking the same brick sidewalks as Washington and Jefferson. What makes Annapolis so special is that it still retains the charm it held in 1784 when it served as the site for the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, ending the war with Great Britain and signaling the birth of a new nation. The city?EUR??,,????'???s Main Street runs from the City Dock at the water?EUR??,,????'???s edge to Church Circle on a prominent hill. Surrounded by lively residential neighborhoods, downtown Annapolis is a vibrant mix of both nationally known retail chains and locally owned shops. Like many small town retail centers, it has suffered from the proximity of large regional malls and changing shopping trends in recent decades. Mahan Rykiel Associates, located in Baltimore, created a master plan to improve Main Street and breath new life into this historic retail district. As part of this plan, sidewalks were widened, handicapped ramps were installed, and traffic lanes had been narrowed to create a friendly pedestrian environment without compromising traffic flow or parking capacity. In keeping with the historic flavor of the community, streetscape elements include brick sidewalks and streets, granite curbs and crosswalks, historic light fixtures, cast iron benches and other street furnishings. Brick patterning on the ground plane differentiates pedestrian and vehicular flow and identifies historic zones. Located to frame significant views, street trees bring welcome shade and greenery to this area. ?EUR??,,????'??Main Street is in the historic district and it is very scenic,?EUR??,,????'?? Catherine Mahan, President and Principal of Mahan Rykiel Associates said. ?EUR??,,????'??It is a brick town anyway, all the state buildings and churches are brick so it is a foregone conclusion that there would be brick sidewalks and a brick street.?EUR??,,????'?? Improving the Sidewalks, More or Less The sidewalks needed to be widened in order to accommodate the handicapped ramps. The sidewalks on Main Street were originally very narrow, but there was an issue with the residents of Annapolis. ?EUR??,,????'??People move to Annapolis because they like the way it looks and don?EUR??,,????'???t want it to change,?EUR??,,????'?? Mahan said. ?EUR??,,????'??They did make a point that the views and historic dimensions are really very cherished and they are not about to change anything on a whimsy. So with the advice from the community we skinnied back up on some of the sidewalks.?EUR??,,????'?? Annapolis was designed by Francis Nicholson, based on Baroque design. He created a city comprised of two circles, known as State and Church, because one surrounds the state building and the other a church. Both have radiating streets stemming out from them. One of those streets protruding from Church Circle is Main Street. From Church Circle the street slopes gently downward providing an incredible view of the water. The street becomes wider the closer it gets to the water. Nicholson used divergent lines throughout Annapolis. Archaeological digs conducted around State Circle in 1990 show that five of the eight entries leading into State Circle broaden the closer they get to the State House, making it look much larger than it actually is. Although the sidewalks weren?EUR??,,????'???t expanded as much as the original plan called for, they were expanded enough to get larger tree wells in during construction. ?EUR??,,????'??We had to place trees so that historic facades would read and that important views up and down the roadway would read,?EUR??,,????'?? David Patterson, Associate Principal at Mahan Rykiel said. ?EUR??,,????'??The view down to the water is an important and beloved view in Annapolis. From the top of the street you can see all the way to the bay, so protecting these views was important.?EUR??,,????'?? The People Speak This project was done entirely within the National Historic District of the city. As Mahan said earlier, the people here like the way things look, and don?EUR??,,????'???t want a lot of change. So needless to say, there were a lot of community meetings. ?EUR??,,????'??The community was pretty involved,?EUR??,,????'?? Mahan said. ?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s a pretty sophisticated, well educated community.?EUR??,,????'?? She added that there were several meetings held and many comments were heard. ?EUR??,,????'??There were comments ranging from they hated everything they saw, to why didn?EUR??,,????'???t we build bio-retention ponds instead of tree wells,?EUR??,,????'?? Mahan said with a laugh. ?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s always useful to get the local people?EUR??,,????'???s input . . . as painful as it was.?EUR??,,????'?? One concern raised by residents and shop owners was the availability to stores while construction was happening from the fall through the new year, a time that accounts for most of the business done by the shops on Main Street. ?EUR??,,????'??Construction had to be staged so that all of the shops could stay open,?EUR??,,????'?? Patterson said. ?EUR??,,????'??The project was staged in halves, a top half and a bottom half. It kept traffic flowing and allowed for temporary access to businesses.?EUR??,,????'?? He added that for a period of time there were boardwalks erected allowing access to the buildings. Foundation Vibrations All of the above ground utility wires were put underground. According to Patterson the road was excavated almost to the basement levels of the buildings. The engineers for the project, John d?EUR??,,????'???Epagnier and David Wallace of RK&K had to evaluate the physical condition of all the adjacent foundations to make sure vibrations wouldn?EUR??,,????'???t hurt anything, requiring a major structural study. It goes without saying, this made shop owners very uneasy. ?EUR??,,????'??Imagine if you had a historic building and the limit of grading was to the outside of your historic building?EUR??,,????'???s foundation,?EUR??,,????'?? Patterson said. ?EUR??,,????'??I think it would make me nervous.?EUR??,,????'?? Because of the amount of excavation taking place, it allowed for the construction of expanded tree wells along the sidewalk. A concrete slab makes a cap over the soil area with brick on top of the concrete. ?EUR??,,????'??With so much excavation, there was a good soil volume that was put in,?EUR??,,????'?? Patterson said. ?EUR??,,????'??The trenches were covered up with brick so we worked pretty hard to get those details to work and coordinated with utilities.?EUR??,,????'?? Historic Amenities-No Research Required Because of the rich history that has been preserved in Annapolis, little historic research needed to be done when choosing amenities for Main Street. The brick and lighting used around State Circle were incorporated into Main Street. According to Mahan, Victor Stanley benches were chosen because of the clean lines of the bench that gives it a contemporary, yet flexible look. ?EUR??,,????'??Main Street, oddly enough starts out in the 1690s and then there is Victorian and contemporary parts of the street,?EUR??,,????'?? she said. ?EUR??,,????'??The issue was what period did we want to restore it to??EUR??,,????'?? If one looks closely at the bricks on the Main Street sidewalk, there is a band of bricks that represent the old sidewalk and another section outside the band, done in a different pattern that represents the new sidewalk. ?EUR??,,????'??It gave us an opportunity especially as we got closer to the water to pick up some dimension for trees, seating and other amenities,?EUR??,,????'?? Mahan said. ?EUR??,,????'??Further up the street it was pretty narrow and we considered putting in street trees, but we could only put them down at the south end where the road gets wider.?EUR??,,????'?? This project received a design award in 1996 from the Maryland/Potomac chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. ?EUR??,,????'??I think we were right on in making more pedestrian space and having amenities for visitors and towns people,?EUR??,,????'?? Mahan said. ?EUR??,,????'??I think we respected the historic character and the views. At the same time we really made it a much nicer place for pedestrians.?EUR??,,????'??