Remember: proposals must address immediate construction issues. Assuming that construction will be taking place piece by piece, or in fragments, proposals should respond accordingly. Something mobile? flexible? modular? temporary/transient? We identified and addressed what we thought were the top 3 issues:
1. TRAFFIC
-where will traffic suck the most because of construction?
-how can we re-route traffic to keep flow smooth and steady?
-how can we keep pedestrians safe and informed?
-for vehicular traffic
- around immediate construction zone, open up and transform former street parking lanes into regular driving lanes. These may create interesting slip-pocket spaces...need help with naming!!
- divert street parking to nearby vacant lots owned by retailers, or onto residential/commercial crossroads, while somehow subsidizing/compensating for retail owners and nearby residents
- use cool cones, glow-y things, interesting markings to delineate new lanes around construction zone.
- keep construction zone space-efficient: create a linear, mobile construction zone with complimentary storage unit
- encourage biking with new bike lanes, rent/share-a-bike lots
- introduce more free city circulator buses/routes
- sheltered crosswalks that can be info galleries and educational opportunities for people to be able to stay updated with construction; to be able to see what's going on thus far
- integrate mobile, modular street furniture into crosswalk designs that are easy for locals and construction workers to assemble/disassemble where needed--seating/tables for resting, waiting, viewing at medians, bike racks at the ends, etc.
- increase visibility of new/existing bus stops--make them bigger, redder, badder, with solar-powered lights, sculpture landmarks, bike racks, temporary container/nursery gardens or whatever else we think would be addressing relevant issues
2. RAINWATER MANAGEMENT
- use sandbags or some form of barrier to create a water retention zone that would redirect rainwater down to the green median that is proposed to exist between the two rails
- slope down and stagger terrain if slope is going in opposing direction
- cross-sectional-wise, slope terrain away from tracks to drain along the rail and potentially create linear greens
- do the same near sidewalks
- use leftover concrete rubble for drainage, foundations for more permanent stations, seating and retaining walls. (need to see Jesse's sketch of tiered retaining walls that could eventually become a mini amphitheater similar to the one by stamp at the college park campus!)
- ***these should probably be prepared before construction really gets started...
- speaking of leftover construction material/waste, how can we re-use/store this? Can they be used to build the urban/street furniture proposed above?
- wherever sidewalk allows it, push for micro pocket parks with drainage channels/slopage where needed
3. DUST/NOISE
- calls for protective barriers--dust: visual barrier; noise: auditory; green, etc
- installing historic Baltimore trompe-leouil facades over the construction site
- design stencils for local kids to use for a community/red line art project on walls around construction and/or on slots in bus stops
- make the water retention barriers also be used as plant holders to create a green barrier or a mobile nursery that could replanted somewhere in a nearby park when construction is done...
- in fact, after construction, these protective barriers could all be moved to new/more permanent homes in plazas, parks, etc, as collage pieces/wall sculptures/jungle gyms...whatever we can do with em.
- this may require research on dust/noise-resistant material
- subsidize businesses/homes to help them update their buildings with more energy-efficient and sound-resistant windows
- try to schedule heavy construction during off-hours on weekdays (10:30-3pm and after 5pm)
- weekends: all day; earlier the better to allow for nightlife and events--lectures, construction/neighborhood happy hours, etc.
- times need to be clearly communicated via billboards, lighting, graphics, etc
1. Site Selection Trial 2:
Out of your four sites, pick one that will pose the most problems and disruptions from construction. (Don't make the mistake that I did, which was picking a site that was too much of a blank canvas and is actually furthest away from human contact and traffic....unless you can argue otherwise)
2. More Specific Proposals that will address the issues identified above, and/or others that find just as/even more pressing
it may be helpful to diagram those issues so that we can all easily, visually compare/constrast/matrix our cases and see what can be done
3. also, consider what can be done:
- pre-construction
-during construction
-post construction
***Edit: (Jesse)
Here's a post-sketch of some of the ideas we came up during the meeting... hopefully it illuminates the traffic bubble concept a little more clearly.
ok so i've been trying to post this for days, but it keeps refreshing and erasing what i've written which is obviously depressing and now these thoughts are watered down from their originals and probably suck. anyway, sorry for the delay and here are some cents:
ReplyDeletea) regarding "calls for protective barriers--dust: visual barrier; noise: auditory; green, etc.": could thiz be some sort of informative barrier? something that blocks the negative but is also displaying the positive; either through graphics or in creating a sort of shield/exhibition zone for the construction. think animals in glass at the zoo or aquarium.
b) regarding "in fact, after construction, these protective barriers could all be moved to new/more permanent homes in plazas, parks, etc, as collage pieces/wall sculptures/jungle gyms...whatever we can do with em.": OR...what if these barriers/exhibition/protective/etc. zones are actually set up to transition into public spaces (plazas, metro/bus stops, waiting zones, etc.) that will correspond to those sort of areas along the eventual running transit line? the public space is treated as such all along, not just when construction finishes.
and c) regarding "use cool cones, glow-y things, interesting markings to delineate new lanes around construction zone.": i think this is a very important idea that may sound a little fantastical with the use of the term "glow-y things" (but i like it). anyway, people blast your atypical construction signs to hell; they despise them, ignore them, and often times, don't even realize what they are for or why they are there. it could be an interesting and effective ploy to utilize a unique form of traffic/construction director...perhaps one that is informative and specific to the transit project and maybe even one that can be used in some other way along the eventual completed red line. although it may be hard to walk the aesthetically beneficial/practically useful barrier with these things, avoiding the standard "fuck off; i am an orange sign with bold lettering designed to ruin your day" could be an effective move.
a. i like the idea of using these barriers against noise/dust as informative walls too that could change with the news and new signs and art projects, etc. The zoo/aquarium reference makes me think about how porous/transparent we want to make these walls, if we do get really into this approach. Could they be consistent of panels that work like blinds that close and open depending on when we would want to hide ugly construction, dust, noise and when we would want to expose/celebrate progress, etc...But i guess that could make the construction sites themselves vulnerable to vandalism...so we'd have to be able to do something that would allow visual access but not physical entry. and then what about parts of the rail that are already complete? should they still be somehow zoned off, or can ppl somehow access them???
ReplyDeleteb. yes! i think we def need to keep that in mind. this is sorta what we discussed with the sheltered crosswalks that could lead to future urban spaces that could be as small as a bus stop or as big as a new/existing park. i keep forgetting how mobile construction is gonna be, so these walls will eventually find a home somewhere along the rail versus somewhere off road.
c. yeah, i always forget how much ppl dread seeing those orange signs. so using a traffic/construction director (and definitely, "specific to the transit project") actually sounds like a really effective idea. at least when i see a person trying to help direct traffic, i feel like there's more comfortable--like there seems like there's more control, direction, and care for drivers and pedestrians. And this person would be a great resource to answer questions for passerby. This could also help address the traffic light issue that we all talked about earlier that may be a problem when the red line actually starts running.
:SLOW DOWN:
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