HomeMy Public PortalAboutWIKADUKE Trail
2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • Bolingbrook Promenade - Bolingbrook, Illinois. Developed by Forest City Enterprises • City of Albuquerque - Big Box Regulations • Kendall County Transportation Plan - adopted 2004 • Teska & Associates • Village of Plainfield Comprehensive Plan - Adopted May 20,2002 & Updated May 2004 & October 2005 • Village of Plainfield Beautification Guidelines - Adopted November 5, 2007 • Wheaton Town Square - Wheaton, Illinois. Developed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects LLP • WIKADUKE Trail Land Use and Access Management Study - November of 2004 Table of Contents Introduction 3 Village of Plainfield - WIKADUKE Trail Commercial Guidelines 6 Prairie Style Architecture & Creative Design 7 Creative Site Design 11 Landscaping Design Guidelines 17 Gateway Entrances & Signage 21 Lighting Style 23 Decorative Elements 25
3 INTRODUCTION The WIKADUKE TRAIL LAND USE AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT STUDY was a project completed through funding by the Illinois Department of Transportation and local contributions from the Village of Plainfield, Kendall County, the City of Joliet, and the Villages of Minooka and Oswego. The Village of Plainfield’s Comprehensive Plan defines the underlying concept behind this project to be the provision of a continuous, major north-south arterial to serve growing travel demand in northwest Will County and northeast Kendall County and link these areas with western DuPage County and northeastern Grundy County. This road system would connect northbound and southbound traffic from I-88 and I-80, as well as provide relief on the Village’s transportation network as substantial growth occurs. The IDOT alignment for this facility would extend from US Route 6 (south of Minooka) to IL 56 (Butterfield Road) in Aurora via Ridge Road, Stewart Road, Heggs Road, and Eola Rd. The final WIKADUKE Strategic Regional Arterial study recommends that Ridge Road be improved to a four-lane facility with an 18 foot median (100- to 150-foot right-of-way). WIKADUKE is an acronym for a joint effort by four counties (Will, Kane, DuPage and Kendall). The vision statement for this north-south roadway is: The WIKADUKE Trail is a limit ed access arterial roadway corrido r that accommodates regional vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle movement. The corridor will have a distinct identity, with a parkway character that blends with the environment and the rural and growing suburban character of the area, promotes appropriate transitions between communities and development types, and provides a pleasant an d memorable driving experience.
4 The WIKADUKE Trail Land Use and Access Management Study goes into detail about the different goals and objectives concerning the future WIKADUKE Trail. The important elements are outlined as follows: COMMUNITY GOALS & OBJECTIVES Goal: The WIKADUKE Trail should reflect a positive identity that is built upon the unique qualities of a historically rural landscape, creating an environment that distinguishes itself from other roadways in the region. Objectives Enhance the visual character of the surrounding en-vironment. Creating a unique identity for the WIKADUKE Trail corridor. Creating a sense of arri val from town to town. Carefully consider the driving experience and charac-ter of the corridor in roadway design. ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS & OBJECTIVES Goal: A balanced relationship between vehicular and human activities and the environment that minimizes the adverse impacts of the WIKADUKE Trail and associated development types on the natural resources in the area. Objectives Integrate innovative stormwater management approaches that meet both functional and aesthetic goals and blend the roadway into the parkway environment. Encourage land use patte rns which preserve the integrity of existing environmental corridors as a means of natural erosion control and protecting the environmental quality of the area. Emphasize the use of native trees, prairie wildflowers and grasses to create a landscape theme for the WIKADUKE Trail.
5 COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL GOALS & OBJECTIVES Goal: Residential and commercial development should be the result of careful land planning that is regionally supported and provides appropriate locations along the WIKADUKE Trail with coordinated access. Objectives Improve coordination between businesses through common signage and parking. Promote quality site design, including distinctive architecture, landscaping and lighting for commercial centers. Provide convenient neighborhoo d shopping locations that serve the surrounding residential development, with direct pedestrian access. Prevent randomly scattered and strip commercial development; keep commercial development uniform. Provide opportunities for a diversification of housing types. Establish standards of design, construction, and maintenance of all residential structures, to minimize monotonous development. Minimize the visual and noise impacts of the corridor on existing and proposed housing developments through creative landscaping, not noise walls or barriers.
6 VILLAGE OF PLAINFIELD - WIKADUKE TRAIL COMMERCIAL DESIGN GUIDELINES In order to achieve the goals and objectives noted in the WIKADUKE Trail plan, the Village has created its own, more specific guidelines for the WIKADUKE commercial corridor. The Village of Plainfield is a rapidly growing southwest suburb, but still remains rooted in its historical, prairie roots. In an effort to restore this historical and cultural interest, the Village is committed to employing sustainable development approaches that reconnect residents to its historical past, while providing for a bright future. As previously mentioned, the WIKADUKE Trail plan has already identified broad goals and objectives. The Village of Plainfield will accomplish a portion of the goals and objectives by implementing a prairie style architectural design, using native plants in landscape areas, constructing attractive gateway entrances and using unified lighting structures. These four items will create a unique identity for the corridor and a sense of arrival as travelers come and go through the Village. These photos represent a couple of unique site designs from other cities and towns.
7 Photo: Courtesy of Peter Aaron 19 92 - Wheaton Town Square Project PRAIRIE STYLE ARCHITECTURE & CREATIVE DESIGN “The good building is not one that hurts the landscape, but one which makes the landscape more beautiful th an it was before the building was built.” - FLW This is a quote directly from Frank Lloyd Wright, the most prominent founder of prairie style architecture. Prairie style architecture was a reaction to the Victorian style architecture of the nineteenth century. Victorian style architecture was featured by highly deco rative, massive design elements. Prairie style architecture minimized this and focused on low lying, horizontal forms of architecture that blended into the Prairie landscapes. Its purpose was to minimize the transition from the outdoor world to the indoor world by integrating the building naturally into th e landscape. Prairie style architecture places a building within the la ndscape, rather than on it. Prairie style buildings typically seek afte r a material that would blend naturally with its surroundings. Masonry, stucco or wood are often sought after materials. Furthermore, the heating, lighting, plum bing and mechanical systems are often designed as architectural features as well. Prairie style buildings incorporate clean li nes and a strong pres ence. This form of architecture was a direct descendent of the Arts & Crafts philosophy, which focused on the purity of desi gn and artistic quality.
8 Distinctive elements of the style are as follows: Low, hipped roofs. Overhanging eaves. Broad covered porches. Strong horizontal lines. Open, flowing interior space. Ribbons of windows. Prominent, central chimney (Residential Buildings). Wide use of natural materials. Creative design will be another componen t that the Village will implement along with Prairie style architecture. The cr eative design component will address the site layouts of the commercial corridor along the WIKADUKE Trail. It will help prevent the construction of scattered strip development with no unifying design element. Through the use of Prairie style architecture and creative site layouts, the Village of Plainfield will establish a well distinguished and well designed commercial corridor along the WIKADUKE Tr ail. In accordance with the goals and objectives of the WIKADUKE Trail plan, the following will be achieved: A high quality site design with distinctive architecture. Uniform commercial development. An enhanced visual character of the surrounding environment. A unique identity for the WIKADUKE Trail corridor. A unique sense of arrival as one enters and leaves the Village of Plainfield. The prevention of randomly scattered and strip commercial development in exchange for unified centers.
9 The main architectural elements and site design for the WIKADUKE Trail Commercial Corridor are illustrated as follows: Low Hipped Roof. Prairie Style buildings are known for their low lying, hipped roofs. It enhances the horizontal appearance of the building and blends the building into the surrounding landscape better. Overhanging Eaves. The picture at the left does a phenomenal job of illustrating the overhanging eaves Prairie Style buildings have. The eaves hang over about eighteen inches (18”) or more. Broad Covered Porches. Though typically seen on residential structures, broad covered porches are great elements that can be incorporated on office or medical buildings. Retail uses can use a similar model for their entrances as well.
10 Strong Use of Horizontal Lines. In the picture at the right, the horizontal elements of the building really stand out. The building almost appears stretched horizontally. The horizontal lines are then complimented with vertical elements to add architectural features to the building. Open, Flowing Interior Space. Typically this element of Prairie Style architecture applies to the inside of buildings, but the Village would like to encourage flowing corridors throughout the commercial developments, to give pedestrians enclosed walkways to travel from store to store. The interior of the buildings will not be regulated as each unit will have its own needs and desires. Ribbons of Windows. Note how the pictures at the right each emphasize the verticality of the windows. The windows are all trimmed with a neutral color, and are long and narrow. Typically one sees wide window displays on commercial corridors, but Prairie Style architecture focuses on having a long, vertical ribbon. There are many different ways to implement this element, and each business will be able to personalize itself with its window treatments.
11 Wide Use of Natural Materials. Natural materials enhance the architectural integrity of buildings. As previously mentioned, masonry, stucco and wood are often sought after materials in Prairie Style architecture. These materials should be earth tone and neutral in color. CREATIVE SITE DESIGN A creative site design has benefits that go beyond aesthetic value. Through original designs, a developer/builder will have created a more desirable site for tenants and more demand for that site. The Village of Plainfield encourages creative site designs to prevent scatte red strip commercial development and to create a unique sense of place for the WIKADUKE Trail. Creativity can be defined as one’s ability to transcend trad itional ideas and to create meaningful new ideas. Key elements in creativity are: originality, progressiveness and imagination. This design reflects no sense of place - in the words of James Howard Kunstler, this type of design reflects “The Geography of Nowhere.”
12 Instead of typical strip commercial development, the Village is encouraging developments that are laid out in interesting patterns. Elements the Village will be looking for developers to employ include the following: • Differentiation in materials in vehicular and pedestrian areas (crosswalks, pedestrian plazas, etc.). • Varying site layouts to prevent monotony. • Well defined pedestrian areas accented by lighting and landscaping. • A variety in the shapes and sizes of buildings or building units. • Sustainability of the center as change occurs. • Architectural consistency throughout. Many Big Boxes, or large retail facilities, prefer to locate on major thoroughfares. The WIKADUKE Trail Corridor incorporates a series of commercial nodes which will hopefully attract a number of big boxes and larger retailers. The photos at the left illustrate how a Big Box can be integrated into an a ttractive and unique site plan. Big Boxes often create problems with traffic congestion, architectural scale, compatibility with adjoining neighborhoods, light and noise. That is why extra care must be taken in designing a Big Box commercial site. Figure I. illustrates the beginning phases of a Big Box site. It has a lot of pa rking space, and different sized outlots arranged on the busy roadways. Over time, however, one can see how the development is filled in. Figure 2. illustrates the development in its late, or final, phase. The site becomes smaller scaled and more pedestrian oriented. The site’s unique layout illustrates what the Village will look for in Big Box centers. Figure I. Figure 2. Big Boxes The above illustrations were taken from the City of Albuquerque’s Big Box Regulations.
13 As mentioned on the previous page, large retail facilities will not be excused from the Village’s Design Guidelines for th e WIKADUKE Trail. While on these larger buildings it may be challenging to get low, hipped roofs and overhanging eaves, there are many other ways one can incorporate Prairie Style elements. As illustrated in the photos below, these include: • Prominent Prairie Style Entrances. • Use of Natural Materials. • Strong Horizontal Lines. • Use of an Earth-tone, Neutral Color Scheme. • Incorporation of Art to Accent the Building. Prominent Prairie Style Entrance This photo illustrates a large, free standing building with an attractive Prairie Style entrance and simplistic architectural details on the remainder of the building. The prominent entrance has a low, hipped roofline, but this was not carried over the entire building. The two broad pillars accenting the entrance, along with the attractive detailing near the roofline reinforce the Prairie Style design of the buildings. Use of Natural Materials & Earth-tone Colors This photo illustrates a corner entrance built with natural materials and an earth-tone, neutral color scheme. The building is built with brick, limestone and glass, and the accenting colors are a brick red and dark green. Strong Horizontal Lines This well-known department store has a building footprint that would be comparable in size to a Big-Box. The photo illustrates how this store was able to incorporate a Prairie Style design by having strong horizontal lines. The strong roof-line and accent bands on the windows keep a building this size consiste nt with Prairie Style. Near the entrance this store has incorporated Prairie Style planters for additional interest.
14 Maintaining Prairie Style architecture throughout a development does not mean that the development will be monotonous and businesses will not be able to distinguish themselves. This unique architectural style offers several variations that can be implemented for a unified de velopment, where each business has its own identity. The photos below illustrate some of the attracti ve variations that can be incorporated into a development along the WIKADUKE Trail. Incorporation of Art to Accent the Building This photo illustrates how a simple, glass art feature can complement a building, while adding color and character to its appearance. Businesses that have massive walls with few breakups shall be encouraged to incorporate accent art on the building. Elements such as this will bring fun and life to a development and make it truly unique.
15 This site plan illustrates a higher qualit y conventional design than the average Big Box commercial center because it provides a variety of store sizes and shapes, and is wrapped around the edges to embrace the commercial activity within it. It is also important to notice that there are two roads that go pass through this center. Rather than separati ng the shopping areas for two disconnected commercial centers, this site plan unifies the opposite sides of the street into one major destination point. Even with th ese elements taken into consideration, there are still negative aspects to the design including: • Little commercial frontage on the street. • Expansive parking areas with few features to alleviate its impacts. • Overall linear design. BIG BOX SITE ORIENTATION A conventional site plan accommodating larg e retail facilities typically consists of a linear design, with outlots along the ma jor thoroughfare. These types of site plans provide little sense of place fo r the area’s visitors, and reflect James Howard Kunstler’s “Geography of Nowhere.” Ve ry few of these commercial areas encompass their shoppers and make the commercial center a place they want to be; rather, they are places shoppers must go to obtain the goods or services they need. There is often a sea of asphalt fo r parking, little landscaping and lacking character. The illustration below depict s a shopping center with a conventional design, but with unique elements included. This illustration is of a conventional shopping center. Note the outlots along the major thoroughfare, water detention areas in the rear, and linear connections. Figure 1.
16 Figure 2. provides a more creative alternative site design for the same commercial area that Figure 1. depicts on the previous page. Figure 2. offers a more unique character that capitalizes comm ercial exposure on the two roadways. The reasons this design is superior to Figure 1. include the following: Figure 2. • Figure 2. embraces commercial activity within the commercial center without neglecting commercial street frontage. Figure 2. offers a more distinct sense of place than Figure 1., because there is a feeling of enclosure on the si te. This feeling develops because the commercial businesses extend around most of the area’s perimeter. This way shoppers can see all of the stores when they are in the middle of the shopping center, and feel detached from the tra ffic passing by. Businesses would benefit from this design because there is additional frontage along the roadway to make stores more visible. This desi gn provides possibilities for Big Boxes or other large retail facilities to be the anchor stores, much like a more conventional design. • Figure 2. breaks up the se a of parking and adds landsc aping to the site design by use of boulevard entrances. Figure 2. has green boulevards at the ma jor entrances to the commercial center that increase the area’s aesthetic appeal, enhance the connectivity between the east and west sides of the shopping center, and provides visual and environmental relief from the massive asphalt parking areas. This type of amenity will attract businesses and customers. This illustration focuses on the building footprints of the different commercial uses, entrance points to the shopping center and the landscaped boulevards that can be added for additional environmental and aesthetic benefits.
17 LANDSCAPING DESIGN GUIDELINES In accordance with the “Green Village” initiative and the Kendall County Transportation Plan, the Village of Plainfield shall promote and encourage the use of native plantings along the WIKADUKE Trail. Native plantings are recognized for the beauty and benefits they bring to the environment which include: • Improving storm water management and controlling flooding. • Reducing air pollution and the amount of chemicals needed for landscape maintenance. • Increasing regional biodiversity and decreasing the amounts of pests and diseases. • Providing historical and cultural interest by restoring and connecting residents to the original landscapes of the area. • Conserving water and preserving its quality.
18 DEVELOPMENT & THE IMPORTANCE OF NATURAL LANDSCAPING As sites are developed within the Village, the amounts of impervious surfaces are increased considerably. When storm water lands on an impervious surface it becomes runoff and flows towards a lower point or detention basin. By incorporating Natural Landscaping into a development, this runoff can be held and filtered better than it would be with turf grass or another type of traditional landscaping. Natural landscaping can mitigate the adverse impacts development may have on the environment by maintaining and/or restoring the site’s capacity to control storm water prior to development. The Village encourages natural landscaping for environmental protection and enhancement, energy conservation, high-quality construction and aesthetic design and creating a sense of place.
19 COMMERCIAL DESIGN GUIDELINES Maintaining traditional landscaping on commercial properties demands a considerable amount of time and money from business owners, though over time these costs are mitigated. Natural landscaping reduces maintenance cost s and effort and is much more environmentally friendly that the exotic plant species often planted on commercial sites. One of the main reasons many commercial sites do not include natural landsc aping is that there are often not large, expansive areas to create a “prairie-like” feel. One does not need a large area to incorporate natural landscaping on his/her property. Rather, commercial areas can focus on incorporating it ornamentally on parking lot island s or landscaping beds. Below are a couple of suggestions to incorpor ate natural landscaping on commercial properties: Substitute turf grass around trees with native plantings. Several trees on commercial properties die or become sick because of diseases that result from shallow root systems. These root systems are repeatedly disturbed by lawnmowers and landscape pruning equipment. Installing natural landscaping around these trees is attractive and reduces the disturbances to tree from lawnmowers and other equipment. It reduces the costs and need to replace the trees. Furthermore, business owners will save themselves time and money on maintaining the tr aditional landscape. Plant native plants in areas that are often shaded. Native plants that can thrive with partial sun or shade will grow in these areas better than traditional turf grass can. Turf grass typically needs a lot of sunlight to grow, which can be shielded from trees or building shadows. Select species of native plants will be able to flourish here while adding color to the site. Plant native plants on landscaping islands, curbs and streets. Native plants work wonderfully as buffers to prevent erosion and runoff. By incorporating them along curbs, streets, and on landscaping islands, one will be minimizing adverse environmental impacts of development, while displaying a colorful landscape. The color will help frame the commercial building to attract potential customers, and look more elegant and unique than other businesses with traditional turf grass and shrubs dominating the property. On large naturally landscaped area s, consider installing a sign so that others know that th e area should not be mowed and the area is clearly defined.
20 SUGGESTED PLANT SPECIES A general list of plant species is compil ed as follows to provide suggestions for what types of plants can be incorporated onto one’s property. The plants ar e broken down into aquatic environment plants and non-aquatic environment plants. A more detailed list of proposed plant species is available in the Appendix. Aquatic Environment Plants These plants prefer a few inches of standing water to moist soil, and can tolerate some fluctuation in water levels. Seeds of these plants are often eaten by song birds and waterf owl, while the plants may be eaten by small to medium sized mammals. These plants often provide cover for ducks and spawning habitats for s unfish. They are often used in upper and lower shoreline zones and vegetated swales. Non-Aquatic Environment Plants These plants generally thrive in damp soil. Naturally they are cultivated in marchlands and prairies. These plants can grow well in full sun or lightly shaded areas and provide homes and food for a variety of animals. Bristly Sedge Blue Flag Iris Common Arrowhead Swamp Loosestrife Pickeral Weed Autumn Sneezeweed New England Aster Obedient Plant Fowl Manna Grass Sweet Black Eyed Susan
21 GATEWAY ENTRANCES & SIGNAGE A goal in urban design is to incorporate a focal point monument at significant street corners and traffic ovals to announce one’s arrival into a community. Locati ons deemed as important gateways in the WIKADUKE Trail corridor, along with any monument signs constructed to advertise a development or individual business, shall be highlighted with prairie style monument signs, native plantings and wildflowers, along with artwork and flags to turn this goal into a realization. ARCHITECTURAL STYLE To correlate well with the commercial buildings, the architectural style for monument signs shall be prairie style. The signs should be crafted out of brick and other masonry materials, and be constructed to match the building or development they are advertising. The architecture features of signs will include: Overhanging eaves. Broad pillars. Strong horizontal lines. Ribbons of detail. Central message. Wide use of natural materials. Below and adjacent are illustrati ons of the proposed massing and integrity for monument signs.
22 The adjacent pictures were taken at a Prairie style development in Wheaton Illinois, known as the Town Square. The Town Square is a unified retail center, where all of the architecture, lighting structures, signage, and decorations are consistent. This consistency offers a strong sense of place for visitors to the site. The signs shown at the right are consistent with Prairie Style architectural design and have the massing that the Village would like to see. The signs are complimented by landscaping as well. The before and after images illustrate how much of a difference landscaping the monument sign can make. The Village of Plainfield will require that monument signs be landscaped at the base with native spe-cies and other types of plants. Attention to detail shall be very important. Before After A goal in urban design is to incorpor ate a focal point monument at significant street corners and traffic ovals to announc e one’s arrival into a community. Indi-vidual subdivisions and commercial developments may have these monuments, as well as cities and villages. Each majo r commercial node shall be complemented with an entryway highlighted with planti ngs and signage. To further complement these items, the developer/builder shall cons ider installing artwork, arches and/or flags. **At the Plainfield boundaries of the WI KADUKE Trail, the Village will install a gateway sign as well for Village identification.**
23 LIGHTING STYLE To truly make the WIKADUKE Trail corridor a unique and special place, special attention will be given to the details. One of these details, and possibly the most important detail, will be the designs for lighting fixtures. A unified, prairie styled lighting design will help tie the entire corridor together. The lighting fixtures installed on the commercial lots of the WIKADUKE Trail shall incorporate the architectural elements of the buildings. This will include: • Strong use of horizontal lines. • Overhanging crowns. • A natural color scheme. • A geometric look. These prairie style lights will be incorporated on a pedestrian scale near building entrances, courtyards, and pathways.
24 Though the remaining lighting structures will not be required to be Prairie Style, they will be required to be unified as well. WIKADUKE Trail is classified as a major arterial roadway, which means it provides a high level of mobility within and between major sub-areas of a metropolitan area. Good de sign standards suggest that major arterials have cobra head lights or pipe lights installed on them. Traditional, elegant lighting fixtures are welcoming to the public, while utilitarian, steel structures are unattractive and uninviting. The Village st rongly encourages the use of pipe lights along the roadway, but where they are not an option will require black cobra head lights. Black lighting fixtures are encouraged because black minimizes the presence of foreign objects in an outdoor environment. It also reduces glare and gives higher visibility to traffic signals. This cobra head lighting fixture will be what the Village aims to move away from along the WIKADUKE Trail. Its utilitarian design is unattractive and will negatively impact the corridor. The two pictures above are examples of suitable lighting fixtures for along the WIKADUKE Trail corridor. The left picture is preferred, as it is of higher quality, but black cobra head lights will be acceptable as well. These types of lights will blend into the landscape and enhance the visual appeal of the WIKADUKE Trail in the Village of Plainfield.
25 DECORATIVE ELEMENTS Throughout the corridor, there will be many locations where opportunity for decorative elements exists. These locations will be areas built on a pedestrian scale with benches, trash collectors and landscaping. To create an identity for these important location s, effort shall be made to install centerpieces and decorative elements for site visitors and employees to enjoy. The adjacent photos illustrate attractive options. In locations designated as pedestrian areas, effort shall be made to install decorative elements that are consistent with the Prairie Style of the Commercial Corridor. Low ly ing, horizontal pillars and planters or prairie styled benches will all complement the area and create a corridor that is truly unique. The materials shall be natural and neutral in color, and the plants shall be native species and seasonal flowers.
26 WIKADUKE Trail