Recently, Alta was asked to review a New Urbanist plan for the 1200-acre Lakeland Green community near Memphis, Tennessee. The owner of the property wanted to ensure that the proposed master plan included good solutions for bicycling and walking. The plan was the outcome of a major public charrette led by some of the nation’s top planners, including Andres Duany of DPZ, Randall Arendt of Greener Prospects, and Peter Swift Engineering. Alta identified two major creek corridors on the east and west boundaries of the site and connecting routes for a greenway trail system. We reviewed the proposed roadway system and defined a priority network of collector roadways that were candidates for bike lanes. We recommended user-friendly intersection treatments and looked at the regional bikeway plan to identify opportunities for connections.

This kind of systematic approach to bicycling infrastructure is not always an integral part of New Urbanist community planning, but Alta believes it should be. The New Urbanists are often interested in creating narrow, two-lane roads and pedestrian-oriented "Traditional Neighborhood Development" (TND) town centers. They may consider bike lanes as inappropriate in their designs because they are perceived as creating wide roads. Pathways are often provided as an amenity in TND projects, but they are not usually designed as defining features of the community or as complete systems for transportation and recreation. However, our experience working with the Lakeland Green team has shown that New Urbanists and bicycle/pedestrian specialists share common ground. We are all trying to create high quality communities. Through collaboration and increased cooperation, pathways and roadways designed for bicyclists and pedestrians can become the signature elements of New Urbanist communities.

For more information about Lakeland Green, please visit the project website at www.brunswickhouse.org/lakeland_green_charrette.htm or contact Alta Regional Manager Jeff Olson in our Saratoga Springs, NY office.

Throughout history, water trails have been an important way to move people and commerce along waterways. However, the creation of roads and the development of rail lines brought a marked decline in water-based transport along rivers.

Today, there is a revival of water trails from coast to coast, running from coastal and estuarine areas and wilderness lake and river routes to urban arteries through cities. This time, though, the water trails do not serve industrial uses, but instead improve access for people to use the waterways for recreational and educational opportunities. What links the trails together is their ability to afford access to the waterway, while providing a recreational experience that contributes to the economic development of small communities and the conservation of the natural resource.

On June 4, Jordan Secter, a Designer in Alta's Portland office, attended the dedication and opening of the middle section of the Willamette Water Trail in Salem, Oregon. Governor Ted Kulongoski stated how proud he was to be supporting a new era for experiencing the jewel of Oregon, the Willamette River. He also stated that the planning of the Willamette Water Trail was a working example of how multilevel partnerships between local communities, municipalities, state, and federal agencies should be implemented.

At Alta Planning and Design, we are beginning to work with small communities such as the Port of Siuslaw and the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership to develop water trail programs in Oregon. For more information about our water trails experience and projects, contact Alta Designer Jordan Secter in our Portland office.

The concept of "green street" has come to mean different things to different people. For the residents of the SE Division Street area in inner southeast Portland, Oregon, it means a convergence of enhanced place, sustainable design, and multi-modal movement. The Division Vision Coalition has led an enthusiastic effort to turn these concepts into reality. However, the integration of these concepts into a dense, built urban environment presents unique challenges. Division Street is 36 feet wide curb-to-curb, with a total of 60 feet of City right-of-way and up to 20,000 vehicles per day, with on-street parking, heavy pedestrian and bicycle activity, and vibrant local businesses.

Alta (with a talented team including SERA Architects, David Evans Associates, David Parisi Associates, and Cogan Owens Cogan) has been a proud partner in this innovative project, assisting the City of Portland’s Planning Bureau and Office of Transportation in creating and illustrating a holistic concept, analyzing and selecting the street’s preferred transportation package of improvements, and developing urban design opportunities. The transportation package includes numerous pedestrian enhancements, intersection improvements, on-street parking, and streetscape improvements. As the project’s concept phase wraps up this summer, the City is taking the project forward to the design and construction phases starting in Fall 2005.

For more information about this project, contact Alta Principal Mia Birk in our Portland office.

Jordan Secter, Designer - Portland, Oregon
Jordan Secter has joined Alta with over five years of natural resource and landscape design experience. He has been a consultant on a number of projects ranging from water trail master planning with the Siuslaw Watershed Council and Port of Siuslaw, to facilitating and developing community design process with rural landowners in the Lorane Valley, to implementing viewshed analysis in western Washington. Jordan's professional goal is to provide his employers, associates and clients with creative solutions that contribute to the aesthetics and sustainability of the site and area ecology. In his spare time, Jordan enjoys jogging along the Willamette River with his wife and spending time with his two children.

• Pro-Bono Assistance: Alta staff are available to help community groups and agencies on a pro bono basis, whether it is answering questions or assisting with research. Every year we donate hundreds of hours to help our colleagues in a variety of areas. Call an Alta professional today to find out more about this, or come into one of our offices and use our library of resources.
   
• Conference Support Program: Alta offers help to deserving individuals who wish to attend conferences in fields related to bicycles, pedestrians, and trails. This may include plane tickets, other travel costs, and conference costs. Contact Alta Principals Michael Jones or Mia Birk to find out more about this program.