From Plan to Pavement: Hilltop Completes First Painted Crosswalk Project

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

If you drove through the intersection of 14th and Main Streets this week, you probably noticed something looks a little different.

On Thursday, August 20, the Hilltop Campus Village partnered with more than 20 first-year students from St. Ambrose University as part of the Bee Ambrosian Service Day to transform

the intersection with a new painted crosswalk.

And the results were extraordinary.

The project represents one of the first visible steps toward implementing recommendations from the recently completed Hilltop Campus Village Master Plan. Throughout the planning process, residents and stakeholders consistently discussed pedestrian safety, walkability, placemaking, and ways to make neighborhood streets more welcoming.

On Thursday morning, we started turning those conversations into action.

A Simple Idea With a Bigger Purpose

The concept behind the project is relatively straightforward: use paint and creative design to make pedestrian crossings more visible while adding color and identity to the neighborhood.

The intersection at 14th and Main was selected as our first demonstration project because Main Street serves as an important residential thoroughfare through the Hilltop and is regularly used by students traveling to and from Central High School.

Rather than beginning with an expensive infrastructure project, we wanted to demonstrate what could be accomplished through a relatively low-cost intervention.

The new design helps draw attention to the pedestrian crossing and creates a visual change in the street environment that encourages motorists to recognize that they are traveling through a neighborhood where people walk, live, and go to school.

Most importantly, 14th and Main is a proof of concept.

If this approach continues to perform well, the Hilltop Campus Village hopes to bring similar painted crosswalks to additional intersections throughout the neighborhood. Longer term, we would like to expand the concept to include painted curb bulb-outs that can visually narrow streets and better define pedestrian space without requiring major capital construction.

It Took a Community

While the finished project may look simple, it required a tremendous amount of collaboration.

The project was funded through a grant from the Regional Development Authority, allowing the Hilltop Campus Village to move one of its Master Plan recommendations from concept to implementation.

The City of Davenport worked with HCV through the approval and permitting process. Bi-State Barricade helped us safely close and manage the intersection during the project. Crawford created reusable stencils that will allow HCV to maintain the design as normal wear occurs, and Red Box Design loaned us the power washer used to prepare the pavement.

And then there were our painters.

More than 20 incoming St. Ambrose University students showed up Thursday morning ready to work as part of Bee Ambrosian Service Day. Their energy and willingness to jump into the project made it possible to transform the intersection in just a few hours.

We can't thank them enough.

Now, Let's Do Another One

One of the goals of this project was to learn.

We wanted to understand what it takes to prepare an intersection, coordinate a closure, work with volunteers, use reusable stencils, apply the design, and ultimately maintain it.

Now we've done it.

That means the next intersection should be a little easier.

The Hilltop Campus Village is interested in working with residents, businesses, schools, congregations, service clubs, student organizations, and other groups looking for meaningful volunteer opportunities. Future crosswalk projects provide a chance to spend a few hours working together and leave behind something visible that benefits the neighborhood every day.

This project may have started with some paint, a few stencils, and a group of volunteers at 14th and Main Streets.

But for the Hilltop, it represents something much larger.

The Master Plan is beginning to move from paper to pavement—and we're just getting started.