Clear Lake Trail Conceptual Design (Unbuilt)

One priority for this project, based upon the West Palm Beach Downtown Mobility Plan, was to improve the overall mobility for downtown residents, employees and visitors to the City of West Palm Beach. CGA developed a conceptual design for a trail envisioned to provide resilient and critical connectivity from the west side of Clear Lake to the downtown urban core to promote bicycling and walking to work and to social activities. The project also incorporated opportunities to enhance water quality protection in Clear Lake, as it is a source for drinking water for the City of West Palm Beach. An added component of the vision was the opportunity for natural resource ecosystem education.

Our approach encompassed four main themes:

• Increase interaction by developing a connected system of linear trail spaces that focus on the water source for the community and by creating a sequence of indispensable, inter-connected gathering spaces;
• Provide a multiscale, sustainable solution to community design and site development that seeks to protect the City’s vital water source and use it as an opportunity to educate and demonstrate the importance of water preservation and natural processes;
• Maximize connectivity through the Clear Lake trail that provides a linear park system with a design detailing that will create special community gathering spaces for meaningful moments and take steps to enhance the lake edges with resilient solutions to preserve the lake banks while create healthy habitats, plant and animal communities, capture site drainage, and
• Shape the character and identity of the trail to the community.