The Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association (TAPA) recently awarded the City of Spring Hill with a 2016 Outstanding Planning Award for the Crossings Circle Transportation Study conducted by City-commissioned consultants, Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc.
The award for the Crossings Circle study was given in the “Project/Program/Tool for Small Community” category. Spring Hill City Planning Director Dara Sanders and Kimley-Horn Traffic Operations Engineer Brad Waldschmidt accepted the award during the TAPA Annual Meeting awards luncheon on Septe 23. The award will be officially presented to the City of Spring Hill at an upcoming city meeting.
The Crossings Circle Transportation Study also was featured during the TAPA Annual Meeting as a technical session presented by Mr. Waldschmidt.
“The recognition that Spring Hill has received for the Crossings Circle Transportation Study demonstrates the City’s commitment to planning for the future, while pursuing a balance between multi-modal transportation connectivity, the potential for economic development, and the preservation of historical significance,” Mr. Waldschmidt said. “Kimley-Horn is pleased that Spring Hill’s planning efforts are being recognized and awarded by the Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association.”
The project was designed to extend Crossings Circle South to the east to Kedron Road to create a second exit/entrance for The Crossings, the city’s largest shopping center, and a complete east/west connection between Main Street (U.S. 31) and Port Royal Road. It also would allow for the future development of two privately owned land parcels totaling 225 acres along the future roadway corridor.
The project was envisioned to not only help alleviate traffic congestion and promote safety, but to also create historic tourism and economic development opportunities as the extended roadway would run through the edge of the existing Civil War battlefield property and commemorate the 1864 Battle of Spring Hill.
The design includes a roundabout, sidewalks, decorative lighting, benches, fences and cannons, keeping with the site’s history. The project indirectly resulted in the establishment of a Spring Hill Battlefield Task Force to explore opportunities to preserve and protect the integrity of Spring Hill’s Civil War Battlefield.
“The City of Spring Hill and their project team, led by Kimley-Horn, were faced with the challenge of balancing the objectives of three concepts that don’t always harmoniously coexist: Multi-modal connectivity, economic development, and historical preservation,” read TAPA’s award nomination. “The City desired a secondary road connection _ to alleviate traffic congestion and promote safety. The project developed a successful and innovative approach to address these complex transportation connectivity issues.”
