Final Case Study for the National Scenic Byways Study: Creative Landscape Design Solutions in Scenic Byways

Federal Highway Administration1990PDFOtherUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationAmerican Society of Landscape ArchitectsUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationUnited StatesScenic highwaysCase studiesRoadside improvementLandscape designEconomic impactsFHWA-ED-90-029This study identifies examples of landscape design which accommodate development while enhancing scenic highway environments. It describes design and planning considerations which can help incorporate creative landscape design solutions in scenic highways. The analytic approach identifies a range of notable and award-winning examples of landscape design solutions for scenic highways, analyzes how positive and negative scenic values associated with those highway environments were handled in the design process, and describes the key factors which led to creative landscape design solutions in case study examples. Critical landscape design elements found in a range of notable scenic highway design solutions include: the notion of a "landscape unit" associated with a given road segment as experienced by different travelers moving in different directions; scenic components such as distinct landforms, patterns of vegetation, vistas, water bodies, cultural and manmade elements, and the prominence of each of these components as seen in the view from the road; the "unit" or harmony of these components with one another in the scenic landscape; the "intactness" -- integrity or extent to which development is handled or allowed to encroach into the scenic environment; and the uniqueness, or relative scarcity, of a given scenic resource along a road segment or within a landscape unit.104