Repairing a critical riparian corridor
Project Statement Repairian deals with the social and environmental challenges of a town adjacent to an important river. The proposition is a comprehensive recreation and restoration master plan. Repairian uses tools like trails, wetlands and dry retention basins in order to protect the residents from wild fires and flood events. In 2015 a wild fire unfortunately occurred in the town and destroyed many homes and wilderness alike. One silver lining was the destruction of the Salt Cedar and invasive species that overtook the riparian habitat along the River. Repairian proposes restoration in order to provide habitat for local endangered species like the Yellow Billed Cuckoo and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher. In order to boost commerce, Repairian expands the existing campground and provides a complete street to connect the campgrounds to the new trailhead adjacent to the airport. At the trailhead visitors can prepare for hikes, learn about the Town or climb atop the fire prevention watch tower.
Master Plan
N
Repairian Recreation & Trails Master Plan
Raised Planters
Trailhead: Lots is going on here. It’s adjacent to Airport, Golf course, Campgrounds, Lake, Rail Road, River. This space is activated by a Watch Tower and Helps to mitigate flood Wash
events
YP.) treet (T S e t e l Comp
Railroad
Underpass
Visitor Center
Entry Node Bios wa
le
Watch Tower
Airport
Paved Trail Loop Existing
Detention Zone Dam Boulders Restoration
N
Gila River
Bios wal e
Bird’s eye vies of Trailhead. This shows better Airport
it’s relationship to the railroad and the airport and begins to show the boulder dams.
Visitor Center
Dam Boulders
Bios wa
le
Paved Trail Loop
Water Detention Zone
Wash Underpass
Railroad
Entry Node
Paved Trail Loop
Constructed Wetlands: These are designed to treat storm water and effluent water before it reaches the River. It also provides a place for
Islands Elevated Crossing
interaction with wildlife and aids in flood
Cottonwood
mitigation
N
Parking
Effluent Water Flow
Raised Wooden Path
Terraces
Gila River
Perspective of Constructed Wetlands: Shows the proposed elevated walk
Complete Street Desert Vegetation
This street serves as the main access from the improved campgrounds and lake to the new trailhead area. This street needs to be an adventure in and of itself. Therefore this street accommodates on-street parking and bike lanes nestled between loads of vegetation.
Sidewalk
Bike Lane
Vegetation
Diagonal Parking
Travel Lane
Vegetated Median
Travel Lane
Diagonal Parking
Vegetation
Bike Lane
Sidewalk
Flush Curb
Fire Break Trail The trail is minimum 25’ and vegetated with desert adapted succulents and cacti. These plants retain water inside them and will not add fuel to a fire. The path is typical unpaved with areas of pavement near higher intensity land uses. Trees adjacent to this area are to be maintained by removing leaves and branches under 6ft above ground.
Trimmed to 6’ above ground
Succulents, Cacti and Boulders.
Unpaved (TYP)
Bike Lane
Pedestrian
Paved Trail
Low level lighting
Paved trail is intended to be used around the most activated areas such as the wetlands and the trailhead. This treatment coupled with the additional parking, will serve less than able bodied people very well.
Stabilized Unpaved Surface
Pedestrian
Unpaved Trail
5ft clearance directly adjacent to path to maintain safety. Beyond 5ft, left to minimum maintenance
This is the typical treatment for the existing trails that are being re-purposed. There is a five foot buffer on either side of the trail for safety and maintenance. The trail is no completely untreated, it’s made up of stabilized decomposed granite. These trails are meant for light impact use
Education Trail The trail is a main connection between the Gila River and the local school. When children walk to and from the river they are able to read about the local ecosystem, animals and implement classroom lessons outdoors. The education trail also proposes an outdoor classroom available for school teachers and
Outdoor Classroom
Education Trail Signage
Boulder Seating
Goals 1: Develop an accessible, interconnected system that brings together Kearny with the natural environment around it and the Gila River 2: Preserve and protect natural, physical, cultural and social resources 3: Implement native vegetation to preserve water resources and exhibit native flora and fauna 4: Protect residents from possible dangers like floods and fires 5: Use project as an economic driver 6: Enhance the identity of Kearny
Project Narrative During the process of designing Repairian the team collected loads of data. General data was collected like climate, soils, hydrology, wildlife and biomes. Then much more town specific data was collected. Some of this data includes: average age, sex, income, transportation, education etc. This data was compiled and then mapped out and overlayed on the towns boundaries. Through this process places with lots of overlap became hot spots for the traits plugged into the maps. For example, looking at social status of the town, places were low education and income coupled with high female population became most vulnerable to change and was then identified as a place where remediation would be very beneficial. There were three town meeting where students and residents collaborated in order to get the best result. The first meeting was a gathering of information, meeting all interested parties and learning about the issues at hand. The second meeting was about gathering information from the residents through mapping exercises, surveys and video interviews. Lastly, the third meeting the student presented the results from the previous meeting and presented preliminary master plan design. Repairian would be implemented by having the residents decide what parts of it are most important and pertinent. Then phasing would begin following the process outlined by resident and local government. Grants would be acquired in order to fund projects related to Repairian.