Basalt’s Midland Avenue streetscape project lauded for sustainability, design
Colin Suszynski/The Aspen Times
Basalt’s Midland Avenue streetscape project, which has been mostly complete since this summer, received two awards in October after one earlier in the year.
The October awards from the Colorado American Public Works Association Conference and American Planning Association Colorado Conference gave the streetscape project the “Sustainability” and “Resilience, Sustainability, and Environmental Design” awards, respectively.
“This award is an achievement for the Basalt community as this project was conceived of and supported by the residents who began giving feedback on improvements to Midland Avenue in the early 2000s,” said Basalt Planning Director Michelle Bonfils Thibeault in a press release announcing the awards.
“One of the criteria of the award was to show how our community’s experiences and innovation can be replicable to other Colorado communities, so it’s an honor to be sharing our lessons around community engagement, designing for economic vitality, and updated infrastructure in a historic district for the benefit of towns and cities across the state.”
The sustainability award from the Colorado American Public Works Association gave particular credit to the subterranean design of the streetscape.
“The most significant improvements of the Midland Streetscape project are what was constructed underground as opposed to what we currently see at street level,” said Basalt Engineer Catherine Christoff in the release.
The underground changes were applauded for making the town more resilient with updated stormwater system, redundancies in the water system, new electric and communications infrastructure, and safe transit for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers.
The award from the American Planning Association was given to Basalt for sustainable design that helps a community recover from “shocks and stresses like economic impacts, natural disasters, and climate change in ways that make the community stronger, more equitable, and better prepared for the future,” according to the press release.
The project also received an award in April from Downtown Colorado for Best Place Small Community.
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