The Tucker-Northlake CID has awarded a contract for the Downtown Tucker Grid Feasibility Study and Implementation Plan to Lord Aeck Sargent and Alta Planning + Design.
The goal of this plan is to help improve connectivity within Downtown Tucker by exploring the possibility of restoring portions of the historic grid network of streets and alleys. Commercial growth and auto-centric development has led to diminished, repurposed, or completely lost historic alleys in many American downtowns. Downtown Tucker is no exception where the originally planned grid in 1891 was somewhat compromised to accommodate growth. However, the orthogonal grid of the eight original blocks (A-H) can still be, at least partially, discerned. While Tucker’s comprehensive planning policies and streetscape improvements have contributed to preserving a small-town character, the partial loss of connectivity is a missed opportunity that this plan will begin to address.
A remnant of Tucker’s historic alley system located off Main Street.
This plan aims to take Downtown’s evolution to the next step by answering these fundamental questions:
- How can Tucker enhance its sense of place and history in the heart of Downtown beyond Main Street?
- How can the community expand events on Main Street into a broader connection within the historic blocks and alleys?
- As Downtown lacks a true signature greenspace and has minimal places for community activities, what are the open space and place-making opportunities that re-inhabiting alleys and lost spaces provides?
- How can Downtown Tucker provide a safe and connected multimodal network in an otherwise car-oriented development pattern?
- How can a new mobility framework help in shaping the future development vision of Downtown in a way that allows growth while preserving the small-town feel?
- What are the mechanisms, strategies, and funding opportunities that can lead to successful implementation of key initiatives?
Initial work on the plan begins this week, with an expected completion date of May 2020. This study is funded in part by the Tucker-Northlake CID and by the Atlanta Regional Commission through their Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) Program.