Historic Medians
Wood, Cascade, Nevada, Wahsatch, Willamette, Platte and Kiowa
Avenues
Anyone who drives to or through downtown
Colorado Springs is familiar with our historic medians and side
parking strips. They are an integral part of the development of
the City of Colorado Springs which its founder, General William
Jackson Palmer, envisioned as a place of beauty and refinement.
The median's character and uniqueness are attributable to their
mature vegetation and Victorian era landscaping. The landscaped
medians, along with uniform setbacks, are an important unifying
element in the northern neighborhoods. They also are a beautiful
remnant of a time when General Palmer's vision for a garden city
reined supreme.
The medians are a remaining legacy of the
commitment of our early residents who raised the funds to bring
Charles Mulford Robinson, noted “Good Roads” expert
and City Beautiful fame, to Colorado Springs to design the layout
of the streets and to enhance them with the center landscaped
median and landscaped parking strips along the edges.
Today the medians and side parking strips
are an endangered historical resource. The danger comes from the
continued erosion and defacement that is being done to accommodate
current and future traffic with no concept of community, pedestrian
traffic or context sensitive design.
The HPA continues to monitor the actions
of our City Traffic Engineers and lobbies against the continued
destruction of the historic downtown landscaping. The HPA advocates
the restoration of the existing medians and parkings and the completion
of the C.M. Robinson Plan for Colorado Springs. Click
here to read the context of the 1905 Gazette article in which
the complete plan was presented.
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