Green Line

Green Line - "Off the Rails" Design Competition - Finalist 

Hosted by: Urban Labs
​Location: Fort Collins, Colorado

“Off the Rails” was a summer design competition hosted by Urban Labs in Fort Collins, Colorado. The competition sought to reimagine the Mason Street Corridor which was located within the city of Fort Collins. The Mason Street Corridor is extremely unique because it has a frequently traveled freight train line running down the middle of it, sometimes up to ten times a day. The active rail line has plagued local residences and shops with noise, pollution, and safety issues resulting in a negative perception of the corridor. The site was a multiple block area right on the edge of Colorado State’s campus.

Awards
-Finalists ​"Off the Rails" Urban Lab Design Competition 
-PAC Collaboration Award Honorable Mention 

Design Team
Adam Wiese
Alex Moore

Project Date: 2016

Our proposal consisted of four major moves that drove the design: giving pedestrians the priority, removing cars form the corridor, create quick density as an economic catalyst, and embracing the train. In order to give people, the priority within the site, we redesigned the intersections to make them safer, created protected bike lanes, and designed “pedestrian only” public space. Removing the cars was necessary because we needed the space, but it also was a choice to empathize people using the bus route, encourage walking and biking, and limiting intersections between cars and people. Creating economic density was what made our project one the most unique among the entries and we decided to design with repurposed shipping containers because of their flexibility and minimal footprint. The final design emphasis was to embrace the train. This was our favorite part of the project because most of the designs and current practices were centered around hiding the train or attempting to muffle the train’s noise. We speculated on ways the train could be used to interact with the community and surrounding public space.