A deeper look at the South Blvd I-277 Highway Eddy

A Highway Eddy is a term used by Roman Mars and his 99% Invisible podcast to define the grassy area on a highway median. It is nothing more than an empty space that has limited public access due to its inconvenient placement in the middle of a highway. Roman Mars from the podcast 99% discusses how these spaces can be better used as a public space, and brings up an interesting question…. If we look at these spaces differently can they be used better?

277 E Stonewall St, Charlotte, NC 28202 – Google Maps

The City of Charlotte has hundreds of these Highway Eddy places around the roads and highways. New ones are being developed every year and it’s interesting to see what the City of Charlotte is using these spaces for. Let’s look at one in particular and use it to make recommendations for what should end up being the largest Highway Eddy in Charlotte, the I-485/I-85 Cloverleaf.

The City of Charlotte recently completed a redesign of the South Blvd / Stonewall Street exit off of I-277 (locally known as the John Belk / Brookshire freeway). The purpose for this redesign was the rapid growth of Charlotte in the mid 2000’s and a proposal to develop an Uptown Charlotte public space over I-277 that bleed into the Southend neighborhood. This proposed project is on an indefinite hold at the moment. But the Highway Eddy around this exit has caught this writers eye for the placement of trees and floral patterns which change for the season.

I-277 From above. The South Blvd. Stonewall Street exit is the first red line on the bottom of the picture

This beautification process of this Highway Eddy began when the Democratic National Convention came into town. The City of Charlotte planted grass, trees, and flower bushes in an act to beautify the landscape around a highway eyesore.

A view of the landscaping done on this Highway Eddy shows a beautification process underway.

Before the Democratic National Convention took place in Charlotte this area was a dirt pile and eye sore for travelers getting off of I-277 at this exit. The redesigned exit made it more pleasurable to enter Uptown Charlotte from this exit but visually, it left nothing to the imagination.

The dirt pile in the background is an example of what travelers into Uptown Charlotte saw when exiting at the South Blvd. Stonewall Street exit.

Another ascetically pleasing landscaping design that the City of Charlotte did within this highway Eddy area was to plant flowers. They planted flowers in a red, white, and blue pattern to symbolize an American flag waving in the air. Granted, this project was done specifically for the Democratic National Convention, the design stood the same and today it is still in place. When driving past it I believe it symbolizes Charlotte as “The New American City”.

The red, white, and blue flowers symbolized a flag waving in the air during the DNC. However they stay in place and reflect Charlotte as “The New American City”

All in all this space is better off with these beautification measures in place. The Highway Eddy is traditionally a ‘dead space’ of land where not much can be done with the land due to it’s proximity to highly traveled roads. The creation of a landscaped space in the Highway Eddy is the beginning of what could be a revolution of spaces. Only time will tell if it will generate more creative ways to use this space.

To listen to Roman Mars podcast on the Highway Eddy – Click Here

Birkdale Village: An example of modernizing American suburbs

Birkdale Village is a live work community north of Charlotte in the city of Huntersville. It allows residents easy access to shopping, dining, and entertainment just a short walk from their home. In correlation with Kunstler’s TED talk It aligns to his theory of less reliance on the automobile and a resurgence of the public space. Specifically it aligns suburban American sprawl more to the European city public space rather than our traditional models.

This place mark symbolized the center of Birkdale Village.

The space is set up with a village center, and a place mark is used to symbolize the focal point of the space. The buildings closest to this space are densely packed with shopping spaces on the first floor, offices on the second floor, and residential apartments on every other floor. As you move further away from the Birkdale Village center, the density of buildings opens up. Looking past the village center one can notice apartment homes become townhomes, then they transition into single family homes. The same is said for the retail sector, as a cluster of retail stores opens up to a Walgreen’s, and lastly, a mosaic movie theatre furthest away from Birkdale Village’s center.

The residential area is tucked away behind the main thoroughfare, and has limited access to the village center and retail area of Birkdale. There are other roads to access the residential areas outside of the main thoroughfare, however I think this is done to prevent people who do not live in Birkdale Village from parking or loitering in the residential area. It also helps residents avoid the distractions associated with retail shopping and allow a somewhat normal suburban feel of their home.

These townhomes are situated on one of the roads into the residential community associated with Birkdale Village.

Turn off the access street to Birkdale Village onto a side street and you enter modern American Suburbia.

There is a tree scape that is a natural canopy over the streets, while studying this space I could visualize the trees lit up for the Christmas Holiday or lush and green during the summer months, which helps beautify the public space. The roads are even designed to make you feel like you’re in a different time period. Red brick is used in many places to symbolize the brick roads of London, and the design of the buildings reminds me of a street in Pimlico a neighborhood of London.

Birkdale Village closely resembles the streets of Pimlico, UK.

A typical Pimlico street scape.

To find your way throughout the mixed use space of Birkdale Village the developer strategically placed directories throughout the dense retail space, allowing residents and visitors alike to gather their bearings and head to their destination with ease.

The Directory in Birkdale Village is easily accessible and helps guide people to their destination.

Birkdale Village is a suburban area which developed it’s space to allow residents walking access to a variety of activities. It is designed to give residents a feeling of self sufficiency that we hardly see in American suburbs. It is a model that this writer hopes will prosper in American (re)development and should be considered by developers as a model to strive for to help with dependency on cheap oil.