What if concrete traffic barriers could become positive streetscape elements?
Temporary barriers have long been used to protect edges of construction sites in cities. During the pandemic they multiplied as the least expensive and most effective edge protection for pedestrian amenities like streeteries and sidewalk pop-ups. The Better Barriers initiative seeks to embrace this newly ubiquitous urban element by developing a custom sleeve strategy that adds program and visual delight to a mundane but necessary layer of urban streetscapes.
BETTER BARRIERS
Fishtown Kensington Area BID + Philadelphia Dept of Streets / ISA + Tiny WPA + Brad Carney / Philadelphia PA / 2023
Better Barriers were designed as a retrofit for the City of Philadelphia’s approved water-filled jersey barrier. Programmed slipcovers transform the modular plastic barricades from an eyesore into an active and attractive edge. Each cover slides over two adjacent barriers, setting a straight or angled connection between them to create a more continuous edge. The simplest covers offer a paintable surface of MDO and wood slats, with other optional add-ons configurable to provide seating, tables, bars and planters.
Deployed as an element of the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District (FKABID)’s Vision Plan at the Front and Cecil B Moore intersection in 2023, the barriers wrap an existing outdoor dining structure situated in an underused knuckle of street asphalt in front of The International, a popular bar. Collaboratively designed and fabricated by local studio Tiny WPA, the project transformed the excess street area into a new public plaza.
