State Street/Library Mall receives APWA Project of the Year Award

MADISON, WI: The American Public Works Association―Wisconsin Chapter presented a Project of the Year Award to the City of Madison, Wisconsin, MSA Professional Services, and Speedway Sand & Gravel, Inc., for the reconstruction of State Street/Library Mall.

For more than a decade, the City has directed the transformation of the famed State Street, a couple of blocks at a time, to meet the City’s modern needs. The final segment, which is the recipient of the APWA’s award, is perhaps the most iconic: two city blocks within the City of Madison where State Street meets the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW).

The many memorable events at the project site, reflecting Madison’s and the UW’s rich history, helped direct the project’s goals. All project stakeholders focused on creating a space that continues the site’s legacy as an important destination, while servicing the evolving needs of its users. The City of Madison emphasized that the design must be timeless, flexible, durable, and easy to maintain. These needs served as the core design principles for this project.

A series of outreach meetings and feedback outlets were used to develop the new design for the site. This outreach included public meetings, individual meetings with key stakeholders, and feedback outlets, such as the informative and often entertaining chalkboard message boards.

The resulting design includes a balance of destination space for large and small groups, increased and improved seating opportunities, and a wider throughway to accommodate emergency vehicles, food carts, and the high volume of pedestrians and bicyclists. The design centers on the confluence of East Campus Mall, the 700 and 800 blocks of State Street, and Library Mall. Views to adjacent landmarks such as the Capitol, Bascom Hill, and Lake Mendota, have been opened up and primary traffic corridors expanded.

Throughout the site, amenities and materials were selected that were durable, long-lasting, and easy to maintain. Plantings throughout the site were selected to be low maintenance and able to withstand the area’s heavy foot traffic. Use of sustainable elements included a drinking fountain equipped with a water bottle filler, LED lighting that provides more light with less energy than the previous lighting system, and structural sidewalk tree vaults to enhance the growing conditions for all the new trees. Other site improvements include an expanded electrical system to serve the growing popularity of the food cart scene, providing a reliable power source in an effort to reduce the use of gasoline powered generators.

The improvements also include a consolidated and improved pedestrian crossing of Park Street and a new grand staircase at the base of Bascom Hill. This key project feature involved the UW as a key partner for the duration of project development. The UW contributed significant project funding and design direction to the project.

The project design team also included landscape architects with Ken Saiki Design and Smith Group JJR, environment designers from ZD Studios, lighting designers from KJWW, and artist Jill Sebastian. Speedway Sand and Gravel was the prime contractor on the project.

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