How can Chattanooga change the region’s most important street from auto-oriented to pedestrian-friendly? Broad Street has a wide right-of-way, a historic legacy of architecture and city-building, and many folks want a "reconnected" Downtown. In this short work-in-progress briefing, Mayor Kelly and the Dover-Kohl team explain the challenge, show the public participation process in action, and present bold designs for a better Broad Street.

From January 9 – 13, 2023 a team of urban designers and town planners from Dover, Kohl & Partners worked on-site in Downtown Chattanooga gathering input, creating visualizations, and testing design ideas for Reimagining Broad Street. Centered on the themes of safer, greener, and livelier, three draft options emerged highlighting possibilities for the future of Broad Street. Each option reduces the amount of space used for moving and storing automobiles, while presenting a range of options for enhancing the pedestrian space.

Option A features a Promenade Street where much of the walking space is in the center of the street, down a shaded allée of trees, as seen in Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Option B features an opportunity to recapture the pedestrian-realm by right sizing the number of vehicle travel lanes and parking spaces, resulting in Broad(er) Sidewalks flanking both sides of the street. The centerpiece of Option C, a Park Street, features moving cars all to one side of the street, allowing for the super-sizing of the sidewalk on one side of the street and the preservation of existing trees.

Dover, Kohl & Partners is proud to partner with River City Company, Chattanooga Design Studio, and the City of Chattanooga on this important project.

Want to learn more about the possibilities for transforming a wide, auto-oriented street into a pedestrian-friendly great street? Visit broadstreetcha.com.