General

Preservation Sketchbook Core Area Entry Approach

The approach area begins at the southern gateway and extends to Cemetery Street, where it transitions into the core area. The overall recommendations for this approach area include:

• Removal of overhead utility crossing wires, but retention of the overhead wires along the sides of the road. This is recommended as a cost-effective measure, as there is no parallel route for relocation of the utilities and it is cost prohibitive to place them underground.Retention of most existing sidewalks and curbs except where specific repair is needed.
• Retention of parallel parking on both sides of the street with chokers to define the parking area from the travel lane.
• Provision of a continuous central left turn lane defined by terminus median islands at locations shown on the plan. This will allow safer vehicular access to Main Street by providing a continuous rest area and will allow for smoother traffic flow by removing left turning vehicles from the travel lane. It is recommended that the turn lane be treated with pressed asphalt surfacing.
  This will reduce the perception of continuous wide asphalt surface, calming the tendency of vehicles to speed and allowing pedestrians an easier crossing area.
• Addition of pedestrian scale lighting along both sides of the roadway.

Overall Master Plan Recommendations

The following illustration provides an overall master plan of the study area. The study area for this project was divided into two zones, one the "Core Downtown Area" from Cemetery Street north through Mountain Road, and the other the "Approach Area" from Toots Creek north to Cemetery Street. Separate but related recommendations were developed for each of these zones. Pictures illustrating the deteriorated existing conditions are also provided.

Main Street Traffic and Roadway Design

U.S. Highway 501 is a main truck route through the Town. Along with the cars bringing people to do business at the courts and the regional jail, this highway creates a dangerous pedestrian condition throughout the business area. There are no marked pedestrian crosswalks and accidents include one fatality in recent years. The paved roadway is wider than necessary for the traffic, leading to a tendency for higher travel speeds than desired as well as to difficulty in pedestrian crossings. The plan recommends a series of "traffic calming" measures that will address both of these issues while providing needed tree and greenspace planting areas. Typical roadway sections were developed for each zone of the roadway.

Core Area.

The core area extends from Cemetery Street north past the Mountain Road intersection. The overall recommendations for Main Street design within the core area include:

• Relocation of overhead utilities from Main Street. Most of these will be relocated and consolidated to new poles along Houston Street. Overhead utilities were found to be one of the biggest eyesores along the core area with its narrow pedestrian walk, and the poles, often off vertical, are a hazard to pedestrian movement.
• Retention of parallel parking on both sides of the street with the parking zone delineated by chokers. Parking is essential to downtown businesses.
• Provision of dedicated left turn lanes at Mountain Road and Edmunds Boulevard.
• Provision of new curbs and sidewalks along both sides of the street. Sidewalks will be patterned concrete in a brick color to coordinate with existing materials. The new curbs and grading will require resurfacing of the roadway paving to establish positive drainage away from the building faces. Sidewalks are in an extremely deteriorated and dangerous condition, with grade and alignment changes and large holes where poles have been removed. Due to various alterations in drainage and bad surface elevations, curbs vary from nonexistent to several inches high. The replacement of curbs necessitates resurfacing of the roadway and drainage improvements.
• Development of new drainage piping within the right-of-way to improve walkway drainage and prevent water flowing towards building entrances. Major drainage pipes for the roadway extend under buildings on the east side of Main Street. These will be abandoned and replaced by pipes running along the street with a new outfall to ravines east of Houston. The new roadway drainage will allow for the design of a more consistent curb height and better, safer definition of the pedestrian walk area.
• Addition of pedestrian scale lighting on both sides of the street to enhance safety and appearance.
• Addition of colored pressed asphalt pedestrian crosswalks at Mountain Road, the Town Hall Plaza, and at Cemetery Road to clearly define key pedestrian crossings.

Study Area

The primary study area for the project extends from the intersection of Mountain Road and Main Street south along Main Street to the railroad track and Toots Creek Bridge. The context of the downtown has also been included in the study, including the gateways at the Town boundaries and the relationship of the downtown to the Mountain Road Historic District and the Mary Bethune Halifax County office complex.

Issues

Several primary issue areas were identified for the Halifax downtown area, including:

• Overhead utilities
• Roadway and traffic design and management
• Parking quantity and accessibility
• Pedestrian use, including walks, green areas and public plazas
• Streetscape materials and themes
• Signs
• Land use and building facades and access

In order to fully study each of these areas and to develop overall recommendations for addressing the issues, several community subcommittees were formed to provide inventory and analysis. The six subcommittees included:

• Signs, Materials and Themes
• Parking, Walking and Greenspace
• Traffic
• Water, Sewer, Drainage and Sidewalks
• Overhead Utilities
• Land Use

Based on each of these issue areas, recommendations were developed for the following elements. A summary of the plan analysis and recommendations is provided on the following pages, organized around the following elements:

• Traffic and Roadway Design
• Streetscape Enhancements
• Parking
• Pedestrian Circulation
• Signs and Facades
• Community Gateways

Landmark Design Group Plan Report

Edited for Web viewing - many images not included to reduce download time.

Introduction and Plan Overview

The following materials summarize the results of a revitalization planning process undertaken for the downtown area of the Town of Halifax, Virginia in 2002 and 2003. The plan was prepared through a highly interactive public process involving Town of Halifax and Halifax County staff and elected officials, the Town of Halifax Village Business Association, an active Downtown Improvement Committee, the Southside Planning District and consultant facilitators. Several well-attended public meetings as well as numerous newspaper articles served to both inform and involve the general populace of the community. The following public meetings were held during the preparation of this plan:

• November 6, 2002 Public Information Meeting and Merchants Meeting
• December 11, 2002 Public Hearing and Merchants Meeting

The revitalization plan is based upon several ongoing community initiatives and past plans, including:

• "Downtown Preservation Sketchbook" prepared by Johnson, Johnson & Roy/Inc. in June 1974
• Downtown Business and Consumer Surveys in July 2002
• Greenway and Pedestrian Trail Concept Designs
• Coordination with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the Association for Preservation of Virginia Antiquities
• Issue and Condition Inventories of the Downtown Area

Overall Project Goals

The primary goals of the community in preparing this plan are to provide economic opportunity for residents and businesses and to improve the quality of life for the citizens, not only in an economic sense, but also by providing a more attractive environment and places for public gatherings and interaction. This plan is intended to serve as a vision for the future of the downtown Halifax area and as guidance for phased funding, design and improvements to both the public infrastructure and the facades, parking and pedestrian access for businesses in the downtown area.

There have been numerous other added benefits for the community in the preparation of this plan. These include the basis for the establishment of a "Village" identity for the downtown and for the overall Town of Halifax as well setting the groundwork for a number of other initiatives. These include:

Business Incentive Package. The Town has some vacant space, most notably the former grocery store site on the east side of Main Street south of the core business area. Community and business leaders have considered methods for attracting businesses to the Town. This plan provides materials that outline the community vision for the future and that illustrate the commitment of the community to future economic growth and vitality. These materials may be developed into an incentive package describing opportunities within the Town for businesses to relocate.

Historic Inventory Support. The plan and the analysis materials generated provide support for the potential application for a historic district in the downtown area.

Greenways Planning and Implementation. The plan provides an initial outline of a Town greenways system that would connect to the downtown area, providing both pedestrian access for residents to the downtown and an attraction for visitors to the area. The maps included in this plan provide a basis for implementation funding and the development of use agreements.

Background and Support for Grant Applications. A primary focus of the preparation of this plan has been to provide the materials and study necessary for application for CDBG grant funding and for TEA21 grant funding for implementation. In addition, the plan provides materials to support other types of grant funding that may become available, and also provides budget and phasing information to assist the Town and the County of Halifax in establishing potential local share funding through the Town's Capital Improvement Plan and other funding sources.

History and Setting

Formed in 1752 from Lunenburg County, Halifax County is the fourth largest County in Virginia, encompassing nearly 825 square miles. Halifax County is an historic tobacco and textile industrial area of south central Virginia consisting of generally flat or gently rolling land located along the Dan and Banister Rivers. The Town of Halifax, originally called Banister, became the County seat in 1792, and is located 113 miles southwest of Richmond and 80 miles northwest of Raleigh.

Main Street from the intersection of Houston Street to the intersection of Cemetery Street serves as the core economic hub of the Town of Halifax. This area features late 19th and 20th century storefront buildings, and is anchored by a landmark early 19th century County Courthouse.

The early community most likely developed as a result of its position as the center of County government, nevertheless, Halifax has remained a small comfortable village.