Clematis Street
Clematis Street is West Palm Beach’s main street, home to a diverse array of civic buildings, restaurants, apartments, offices, shops, and bars. Past upgrades and thoughtful management led to a revival on Clematis starting in the early 1990s. However, as the street and its role evolved, it became clear more improvements were needed. A lack of shade trees and relatively narrow sidewalks made walking difficult, limited the expansion of outdoor dining, and constrained access for those in wheelchairs.
Dover, Kohl and Partners created a design for street improvements that provides more street trees for shade and wider sidewalks for an improved pedestrian environment. There is much more space for seating and other amenities. The reconstructed street is also completely curbless and deliberately devised to slow down traffic, creating the feel of shared space. Retractable bollards allow for an adaptable street; sections are now easily closed to throughgoing traffic on regular occasion, and the curbside management flexibly combines café seating, onstreet parking, bike parking, and ride-hailing pickup and dropoff.
The street was designed for fast, off-season construction in phases, one short segment at a time, to minimize disruption. The plan for the reconstruction was created in close collaboration with the City of West Palm Beach, engineers and landscape architects at Kimley-Horn, local businesses and property owners as well as members of the broader community.
Grand re-opening celebrations for the first two completed blocks were held in November 2018 and November 2019; two more blocks were opened in late December 2019.
Awards
Below: Work concepts for Clematis Street
