Page 30 - Valparaiso, IN U.S. 30 Corridor Plan

Adopted July 25, 2011
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Concept Plan

SECTION THREE

Effective plans are held together by an overarching logic or “framework” that helps • The corridor is made up of discrete segments with differing physical
make sense out of the myriad smaller recommendations that constitute the plan in characteristics. New design elements can/should reflect these differences
whole. The framework identifies the overall themes, ideas, unifying elements and while still carrying a nominally consistent theme
organizational features that help transform otherwise random collections of buildings, • The corridor needs to have a hierarchy of development intensity with clearly
roads, and land-forms into identifiable places. defined activity nodes and limits on “strip” development

The concept plan for the U.S. 30 corridor as shown in the Opportunity Analysis • The adjoining local street network needs to be more fully developed to carry
graphic below, encapsulates several key ideas that are “threaded” throughout the local traffic and to connect the corridor to the rest of the City
plan. That, • There needs to be clear areas of transition, and divisions between urban,
suburban and rural sub-segments of the corridor, as well as between highway
• Salt Creek and its tributaries need to be protected and opened up as an amenity and service roads
for the area
• Service roads need to take on a more urban/pedestrian/bike-friendly feel and
• Natural and open spaces should be protected, reclaimed and tied together into be buffered from the highway
a connected greenway system
• The corridor’s vertical dimension needs to be improved: Trees need to frame
• Pedestrians and bicyclists need to be able to cross the highway as well as access the corridor and separate it from the service roads; taller buildings need to be
property alongside it introduced at key development nodes; and the clutter of overhead wires and
• The main entrances to the City, and to downtown, need to be strongly accented individual pole signs needs to be reduced
with landmark-quality buildings and public art • Larger (re)development sites need to be mixed-use and master-planned
• The Washington Street corridor (and to a lesser extent, Sturdy Road) needs to • There needs to be a strong emphasis on landscaping and beautification
become a tentacle of Downtown and a “red carpet” to it throughout the corridor
• Valparaiso University and downtown provides a design vocabulary (i.e. • The overall design quality of buildings needs to be improved
architectural/materials palette) that could be used to style parts the corridor • The corridor remains an unwidened 4-lane divided highway
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