Business & Tech

Firm Hired to Design Downtown Crossing Streetscape Plan

The project will look at sidewalks, roadways, pedestrian zones, signage and retail vendors.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority has selected a firm to develop a streetscape design program for Boston’s Downtown Crossing Business Improvement District.

Klopfer Martin Design Group, located at 214 Cambridge St., Boston, was selected from 11 proposals submitted to the BRA for the project.

“At the [Boston Improvement District’s] Annual Meeting, KMDG presented its long-term vision for a district-wide standard of design to be implemented in the public realm i.e. sidewalks, roadways, the pedestrian zone, signage, and the vending program,” according to a press release posted on the BRA website. “Experts in landscape architecture, wayfinding, urban design, universal design, vending, civil and traffic engineering, and bicycling have been assembled by KMDG to be incorporated into the standards.”

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Through the Streetscape Design Standards and Wayfinding Program, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and Klopfer Martin Design Group will develop specifications for sidewalk and roadway materials, recommendations for the pedestrian zone and vending program and concept plans for the wayfinding program.

“In response to changing demographics, KMDG will use urban design to ‘recast the crossing’ as a public, open space. New wayfinding standards will be used to highlight intersections and opportunities to ‘connect the connections,’” according to the BRA website. “Wayfinding components will include all modes of transportation (private motor vehicles, public transportation, bicycling, and pedestrians), informational kiosks, maps, and the area’s history and culture to ‘unlock the experience.’”

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Also at the recent Boston Improvement District meeting, senior planner Jonathan Greeley presented a project that involves improvements to the crosswalks, streetlights, sidewalks and planter in the Kingston and Bedford Street intersection, also in the Downtown Crossing area.

Designs for that project will be finalized this month, according to the BRA site. Construction will be completed in late May.


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