Technical Memorandum
The Power of Commitment
On-Call Engineering Services T.O. 1
Constructed roundabouts, looking south
July 27, 2022
To City of Napa Public Works Contact No. [Enter text]
Attention to: Julie B. Lucido and Katrina Gregory Email [email protected] [email protected]
From Lindsey Van Parys, PE Project Name On-Call Engineering Services T.O.
Subject Public Art at the First Street/California Blvd. Roundabout California Blvd/First Street Roundabout Public Art Space Project background
GHD (formerly Omni-Means), was contracted by the City of Napa (City) to provide environmental clearance a
nd design services on delivering the California Blvd Roundabouts along first and second street, as well as the Sate Route (SR) 29/First Street roundabout.
During both the preliminary engineering and project approval (PA/ED) and final design (PS&E) phases, GHD worked closely with the City and Caltrans regarding project design criteria and aesthetics. From the start of the PA/ED and into the PS&E phase there was a desire to make the project aesthetically appealing in all aspects which included the following project
components:
– Landscape
– Hardscape
– Lighting
– Signing
– Colored/textured concrete
– Retaining walls
– Drainage swales
– Public Art
During both PA/ED and the PS&E phases, the opportunity for public art was discussed. The City indicated the desire to incorporate public art with the project or, at a minimum, provide an area for public art to be installed in the future.
Public art spaces were considered in the center island of the California Blvd roundabouts but were removed from consideration for various reasons, including concern regarding minimal space availability for public art in the central island due to underground utility conflicts, future expandability of the roundabout, and potential for the pedestrians to cross the travel lanes within the roundabout to interact with the art.
In a meeting held July 12, 2016, with GHD and City staff to discuss landscape and public art. This meeting included: Eric Whan former Deputy Public Works Director, John Ferons former Project Manager, Dave Perazzo former Parks Manager, and Steve Crego former City Electrical Supervisor in addition to GHD staff, including the author of this memorandum, Lindsey Van Parys.
At this meeting it was decided the project would not provide art within the center of the roundabouts. but there was a desire to keep the potential for a "City of Napa” sign monument in California Blvd/Frist St ATTACHMENT 4
On-Call Engineering Services T.O. 2
Roundabout. As stated above, the main concern was that adding public art into the circle center(s) might entice the public to cross traffic lanes to “visit” the artwork. Due to the higher volumes of traffic anticipated, this was a concern for pedestrian safety. It was recommended the public art space is located at southeast (SE) corner for the California Blvd/First St roundabout/ the northwest corner of the water quality basin.
GHD’s action item from this meeting was to identify an area (plaza or defined footprint) for the element to be located in an effort to establish parameters in which to design an "art piece". This location was close to the actual roundabout and would provide a prominent location for visibility and safe convenient access by the public. The art piece was to be determined by City committee, separate from the GHD contract.
GHD prepared the exhibit on the following page which highlighted the public art area, shown below.
Landscape Concept Exhibit, December 2016
T
his location was also selected as it provides an opportunity to welcome all roadway users (vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians) to downtown Napa. This location was ideal due to its prominence with respect to visibility and provides ease of access for the public to interact with and enjoy up close and away from the vehicular traffic. Additionally, the landscaped detention area behind it provides a nice visual setting/backdrop for the future art piece that will not detract from the art piece or from the road users attention.
The image below shows the public art area as constructed in the SE corner of First St/California Blvd.
California Blvd at First Street: looking south, September 2020
On-Call Engineering Services T.O. 3
Considerations Art Area Design
The public art area was
selected and placed based
on engineering design
parameters namely
intersection traffic safety as
well as corner sight distance
(SD) corner, intersection SD,
and stopping SD.
Additionally, this location
was selected as the
direction of traffic on First
Street is one way in the
eastbound direction, which
simplifies the sight distance
restrictions.
As shown to the right, art
placed in the public art area
would not block views of
pedestrians within the
crosswalk or vehicle
movements.
The art area was also
placed behind the 10-foot-
wide shared use
path/sidewalk, which is
separated from the roadway
by more than 14 feet. As a
result, the public art area is
setback from the roadway by
more than 24 feet, as shown
below.
At the time this area was
designed the public art piece
that would ultimately go
within the concrete pad was
undetermined. Therefore,
this space needed to be
flexible to accommodate an
art feature of an unknown
size, material, and style.
Construction detail plan sheet showing the public art area Northbound California Blvd driver’s view of the crosswalk at First Street
On-Call Engineering Services T.O. 4
The size and shape of the concrete public art area designed for the future addition of art was also intentional as it created a space which had no underground utility conflicts and minimal storm drain conflicts. As shown below, the concrete area was placed in a location that had no underground utility conflicts and minimal storm drain conflicts. There is a 12-inch reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) installed under the east side of the concrete pad of the public art area, shown below, which will need to be taken into consideration in the final placement of the artwork.
Utility and storm drain plan sheets showing the public art area Considerations For Selected Art
The public art area was constructed as a 20 foot by 25 foot concrete area. The structural section matches that of the adjacent sidewalk, which is 0.35 feet of Portland cement concrete (bid as Minor Concrete (Sidewalk)) over 0.5 feet of Class II Aggregate Base. Any future art installation must take into consideration the size and weight of the piece and design a suitable foundation and structural elements. Improvements below the existing art pad areas to support the art piece will required potholing to be done in those locations to verify that there are no conflicts with any known or unknown utilities or storm drain infrastructure.
A Study on Public Art in Transportation
Studies on the impact of public art in transportation are minimal, however, there was a recent study conducted by Sam Schwartz Consulting and Bloomberg Philanthropies on the impact of pavement/asphalt art on safety. This study compared 17 intersections before and after addition of pavement paint application.
While that is not what is proposed on for this location, some of the findings in that study may be applicable/translatable to the installation of public art. The study found the art helped to encourage drivers to slow down, which many studies had shown, reduce the severity considerably. The abovementioned study found the application of art, in conjunction with and independent traffic calming measures, improved roadway safety. Below are some statistics from the report. – Average of total crash rates from all sites decreased by 17.3%, 38.7% when high and low sites excluded (Sites 7 and 17)
– Average of vulnerable user crash rates at all sites decreased by 49.6%, 61.0% excluding outliers – Average of injury crash rates at all sites decreased by 36.5%, 41.5% excluding outliers – 13 sites had decreased crash total crash rate, 2 had increased total crash rate, 2 had no crashes before or after
A link to an article discussing the study and the study itself are included below:
STUDY: Asphalt Art Decreases Vulnerable Road User Crashes By 50 Percent – Streetsblog USA https://assets.bbhub.io/dotorg/sites/43/2022/04/Asphalt-Art-Safety-Study.pdf
On-Call Engineering Services T.O. 5
Examples of Public Art along transportation facilities
GHD has included and/or incorporated public art in many past projects throughout California. The following images provide examples of public art installation adjacent to transportation infrastructure:
Windmill in Lindsay
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Clocktower in Rippon
Quarry Worker and Sign in Rocklin
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Family of Birdwatchers and Birds in Galt
On-Call Engineering Services T.O. 8
The following images provide examples of public art installation adjacent to transportation infrastructure designed by others:
Kings Beach Roundabouts
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Artist Jean-Luc Plé’s famous snail sculpture on the Lorignac roundabout, France.
Source: Education Images/Universal Images Group Editorial/Getty Images https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-10-09/how-france-turned-the-humble- roundabout-into-a-showcase-for-art
https://www.wsj.com/articles/see-giant-snails-pine-cones-near-french-roads-1444964251
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https://www.visitbend.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Roundabout-brochure-2015-4x9-09-11-15- web.pdf
https://www.westernslopenow.com/news/local-news/exclusive-interview-with-the-artist-behind-the- big-horn-sheep-sculptures/
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St. George challenges Salt Lake’s roundabout whale with a roundabout dragon (sltrib.com)
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Public art in roundabouts helps calm traffic, create sense of place (83degreesmedia.com)
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Summary
If there are any questions on the information presented in this document, please reach out to myself at 916- 245-4220 or via email, [email protected]
Regards
Lindsey Van Parys, PE, QSD/P
Project Manager