Saint Charles, MO
DG2 Design worked with the engineers at CMT and the City of St. Charles to design the streetscape improvements for Fifth Street, from I-70 to First Capitol Drive. The goals of the streetscape project were to create a gateway to the City of Saint Charles while enhancing the aesthetics of Fifth Street, improving traffic flow and safety and promoting pedestrian activity.
This was accomplished by creating wide pedestrian facilities to invite walking, improving the pavement on the heavily trafficked roadway, and improving wayfinding for major destinations in Saint Charles by implementing standard signage. The aesthetics of the corridor were improved with a 200-foot-long stone wall, native landscape and place-making improvements designed to be inviting to the public and representative of the historic and cultural environments of the City of Saint Charles.
With the vision in mind of the project corridor as a gateway to the city, the design team’s primary goal was to make sure the proposed improvements were respectful to, and representative of the rich historic and cultural environments of St. Charles. Through inventory and analysis of the surrounding streets as well as public meetings in which residents were able to give input into design decisions, the design team developed a framework for the new streetscape that lived up to this goal. Design elements such as improved wayfinding signage, widening of sidewalks and improvements of the roadway, new plantings, and pedestrian gathering points were all proposed using materials and an overall aesthetic feel that was appropriate to the corridor. Moreover, a multi-tiered feature wall was designed to be reminiscent of the flow of water in a river and act as the primary focal point of the gateway.
