NewUrbanStreets

Concrete unit pavers are getting a bad reputation in some circles as they have not provided a care-free pavement. But, there is no such thing as care-free pavement. Some just need more care than others and that is the case with concrete unit pavers–particularly in high traffic situations in a wet environment. Ironically loose sand is what holds them together.

One way to limit the extent of the multi-color painting of the public streets and sidewalks is a practice called “white lining”. That could reduce the damage caused by wide-area painting when only a small area will be excavated. How it works is that the contractor who knows the area to be excavated delineates that area with white chalk (preferably not white paint even when a water base) by marking small “L” shapes at the corners. Then the locate crew only adds their markings inside the “box”. But, it is not that simple.

State law in Texas requires someone digging in the public rights of way to call “One Call” who then notifies all utilities the area where digging may occur so the utility can mark the locations of their underground facilities. That is a good as it preserves the services expected by the utility’s customers and the utility does not have to make repairs thereby increasing the cost to the customers. It also protects the workers doing the excavation as, for example, hitting a high-voltage duct bank is not a healthy thing.

But the issue is in the application of the markings. There are published guidelines for the style and frequency of the markings as well as the color. The color indicates the business type of the utility, e.g. telecommunications, power transmission, natural  gas. The frequency of the marks can remove all doubt about the location as well as remove all value of the classy, upscale look paid for by the public.

Note – This is a followup article to Trees in the Parking Lane on Dallas St and Leaves Stamped in Concrete.

There is another thing we tried in the Dallas St. project to give it a special urban identity. The traffic engineers–correctly applying the requirements of the traffic control manual–said there had to be a continuous white line between the parking lane (with the trees) and the lane of moving traffic. We have enough of the unappealing look of chipped, ragged thermoplastic stripping and the fading painted stripes. Besides, that is so typical and this street needed to have its own character–like many others in downtown Houston–but with a limited budget.

Banners are a favorite addition to the streetscape as they create a festive feel and a sense of pageantry. But they are not inexpensive to install and maintain and will take more staff time than you may think. One of the big issues in Houston is what is allowable on the banner–the type of content–and the quality of the image. In Houston, we have a very strict sign ordinance that comes into play as soon someone wants to use the banner as a sign depicting a company, service or product. There is a short list of special provisions that allow for deviations from the norm for specific areas and for very large events.

One day we were talking about the gaps in the row of trees planned for Dallas Street due underground obstructions and wishing there was a way to continue the theme. The project architect wanted to continue the theme of the concrete squares and we also wanted to carry on the tree/leaf theme.  I recalled leaves stamped into the concrete sidewalk around trees in Vancouver when we were there for the International Downtown Association conference. That quickly lead to speculation about how to create the stamp of a leaf.