The multi-phased redevelopment of downtown Wauwatosa, known as “The Village” began with the need to replace old utility infrastructure and roadway pavements. The project quickly expanded as the client and project team realized an opportunity to better serve the entire Village with streetscape and wayfinding enhancements. Through a series of public workshops and streetscape steering committee meetings, a new and exciting vision for The Village emerged that focused on enhancing its place as a unique dining and shopping destination within the greater Milwaukee area. The effort has been a resounding success, with broad support for a complete redesign of park spaces, 6 “gateway intersections,” and more than 6,000 linear feet of streetscape improvements.

 

The roadway and streetscape enhancements address pedestrian safety while maintaining vehicular access through innovative design strategies including the creation of a curbless shared street plaza, road realignment, reverse-angled parking, flexible outdoor spaces, parklets, contra-flow bike lanes and integrated bicycle accommodations. Local historic features such as the nearby gristmill, old plank road and Menomonee River greatly influenced the material selection.

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The design team worked closely with the City of Wauwatosa, representatives from The Village Business Improvement District (BID) and key community stakeholder groups to envision streetscape and park improvements for The Village.

 

The landscape architecture and planning efforts were a joint between two landscape architecture companies working closely together. In 2015, the landscape architect team led the visioning sessions to redesign several streets, pedestrian spaces, intersections and parks in the historic Wauwatosa Village. Building on the groundwork laid during the master planning and schematic design process, the landscape architects worked as part of a multi-disciplinary team to craft a phased set of construction documents that accomplish the master plan vision of an elegant and modern update to The Village while enhancing and celebrating its historic character.