Activating Hailey Through Placemaking and Street Design
Hailey, Idaho | 2016
Project Details
The Challenge
Key Activities
Outcomes
Report
Hailey, Idaho is a vibrant community of 8,000 residents located along the state’s Big Wood River and surrounded by some of its most scenic mountain ranges. In the past, Hailey’s economy had been largely dependent on construction and service-sector employment in the surrounding resort communities. However, recent shifts in the area have highlighted the need for economic diversification in the valley.
While scenery and quality of life remain some of Hailey’s largest assets for growing the valley’s economy, the auto-oriented Highway 75 has prohibited greater growth within the region. Highway 75, a primary transportation and commercial corridor, also serves as the town’s Main Street. An increase in traffic volume and speed on Highway 75 has discouraged bicycle and pedestrian activity on Main Street, limiting the possibility of a pedestrian-based economy.
The City of Hailey recently completed a bicycle/pedestrian plan in which the public identified improved bicycle and pedestrian accommodations on Main Street as top priorities for the community. Hailey called upon Community Builders for assistance to accomplish this priority.
Partnering with Project for Public Spaces (PPS), Community Builders and the local team in Hailey conducted outreach, research, and design activities to develop a range of recommendations for Highway 75/Main Street.
Outreach included an online survey, a public mapping event, stakeholder interviews, walk audits, and a presentation booth at Hailey’s Holiday Square Festival.
Community Builders and PPS combined the results of the outreach with current traffic data to generate various design concepts for Main Street. What resulted was a report outlining a series of short and long term recommendations for the City of Hailey.
The City of Hailey acted quickly on some of the recommendations and sought funding for several projects. Through a local levy tax, the city was able to build bike lanes and pedestrian paths connecting Main Street. Hailey also received funding through Idaho Taxpayer Access Point (TAP) to build bike and ped infrastructure to local schools.
Additionally, a parklet was built in front of Liberty Theatre on Main Street, a project funded through a partnership between the City, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, and local realtors.
Today, Hailey is in the middle of a public visioning process for an Idaho Department of Transportation resurfacing project of their Main Street. The community is utilizing information provided by Community Builders during this project to inform recommendations.