Alton Great Streets

Alton, Illinois

Redefining the way streets can better serve the community

Great Streets facilitate the interaction of people and the promotion of commerce. They serve as destinations – not just thoroughfares – and create complete streets of transit, walkability, bicycling, recreation, sustainability, and safety. To achieve this along the Broadway corridor of Alton, Illinois, East-West Gateway Council of Governments and the City of Alton engaged Design Workshop to lead a Great Streets Plan focused on the downtown and its connectivity to the Mississippi riverfront. Critical to achieving implementable outcomes, stakeholder engagement vetted numerous ideas and alternatives to address the challenges. The community’s message to the project team was clear – the plan needs to strengthen the small businesses that give Alton its authenticity. To meet this goal, the plan translated the community’s priorities into four overall framework goals to improve connectivity and mobility, leverage development assets, integrate a green network for stormwater and to craft a brand and identity for downtown Alton.

Alton Great Streets Plan was launched at a critical time in the City’s history – a time when the City needs to retain and attract young people, reposition the downtown as the heart of the community, reconnect the City to its riverfront, reinvest in the downtown’s social spaces, leverage the regional tourism market and create the confidence future investors need to make the Broadway Corridor and downtown thrive.

Services Provided: Planning, Stakeholder Engagement, Landscape Architecture

Client

East-West Gateway Council of Governments, City of Alton