Omaha Street Median

Stretching for twelve city blocks, Omaha Street in Rapid City, through a three year phased sequence, was converted from a four lane road into a six lane arterial. In this plan, there are five separate medians, ranging from thirty feet wide to five feet wide, which have an opportunity for landscape enhancements.

Wyss Associates Inc., worked with SDDOT and The City of Rapid City, was selected to design these enhancements, giving the six lane arterial a pedestrian quality, not one solely for the automobile. The visual quality of the road and the safety of the pedestrian and automobile were three major issued addressed in the median enhancement design.

Color, plantings, and pattern were design tools used in the median enhancements. For pedestrian safety, a section of roadway sixteen feet wide was colored, signaling pedestrians and motorist to major crosswalk.

Trees, shrubs, and perennials were implemented to soften the experience while traveling along the street, not only for pedestrians but also for automobiles. A new irrigation system was also designed to insure the success for the median plantings. To add visual interest, the median planting beds were raised, colored brick red and given a herring bone stamp pattern. A river rock or brick stamp was used to an interest when the median was too narrow for a planting bed.

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