LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.
Issue link: https://landscapearchitect.epubxp.com/i/150657
Deaderick Green: Creating Tennessee's First Green Street by Kim Hartley Hawkins, Hawkins Partners, Inc., Nashville Above The Deaderick Street sidewalks, here looking west toward Legislative Plaza, have a continuous flow of street trees: Pistacia chinensis, 'Highbeam' overcup oak and 'Princeton' American elm. Eleven-ft. tall pedestrian LED columns (Forms+Surfaces) are used to highlight special events throughout the year by changing the color of the shields. At right by the bike racks is a solar-powered computerized parking-space station. A parker just enters the space number (indicated at the center of each curb space) and pays, with no need to display the receipt in one's vehicle. Deaderick Street has been a part of Nashville's history since its pioneer days. The three-block street in the middle of downtown provides a strong civic axis between Nashville's Legislative Plaza and the city's public square. In the 1970s, Deaderick Street was reconfigured from a two-lane 65-ft. right-of-way with 3-4 story buildings, to a 112-ft. right-of-way with 4 lanes and 11-26 story buildings. Until October 2009, Deaderick Street served as an outdoor transit mall. When the transit mall moved, Nashville Metro Public Works took that opportunity to reimagine Deaderick Street. This transformation marked a first project of Mayor Karl Dean, who had committed himself and the city to becoming a leader in sustainable initiatives. 66 Landscape Architect and Specifier News The infrastructure improvements included many sustainable elements: a 700 percent increase in permeable surfaces through the use of LID (low impact development); use of recycled materials (fly ash, steel, crushed concrete aggregate) throughout; incorporating LEDs; solar parking meters; waterefficient irrigation; and over 50 percent native planting. The implementation also included environmental education by developing posters on public kiosks, demonstrating the sustainability benefits of rain gardens and urban trees for the project. The proposed plan incorporated three primary LID design elements that helped to achieve the sustainability goals: continuous street trees and landscaped bioswales on both sides of the street; bioswale bulb outs at intersections; and pervious concrete pavement over structural soils. These