Code SMTX: Tactical Urbanism Intervention and Project Kickoff

Code SMTX in San Marcos, Texas may carry the distinction of all-time least expensive winner. The return on investment for the city and for community members has been significant.

For one day in June 2014, the City of San Marcos and Dover, Kohl & Partners worked to re-envision downtown using so-called “tactical urbanism.” Workers converted two blocks of street from one-way to two-way traffic using temporary paint. An adjacent block was closed to create a farmer’s market. Several “pop-up” parks were built in parking areas, lanes were narrowed, and a two-way temporary cycle track was installed.

More than 3,000 residents and visitors visited the site, experiencing the value of safer streets, local food, public spaces, and worry-free bicycling—all for a mere $1,300, or less than 50 cents a person.

Thanks to that exercise, the City of San Marcos now plans to permanently convert South Lyndon B. Johnson Drive to two-way at an estimated cost of $650,500. More importantly, city residents gained a firsthand understanding of what San Marcos— one of the fastest-growing cities in America—could achieve with better urban design and land-use regulations.

The intervention kicked off a week-long charrette by Dover, Kohl & Partners to develop a proposed form-based code. “Code rewrites and master planning typically take place in a board room and on paper, but not in San Marcos,” exclaimed Jennifer Shell, city engineer.

San Marcos’s downtown is already reviving, but placemaking and street improvements could kick that process into high gear. “Complete Streets, like the one that this event demonstrated, generate higher retail sales and provide a safer environment for motorists, bicycles and pedestrians,” notes Matthew Lewis, City Director of Development Services.

Additionally, the SMTX project could save lives. During the demonstration, operating speeds on the street slowed to 15 to 20 miles per hour from the usual 30 to 45 miles per hour, significantly improving safety for all users. Segregated biking facilities, like the ones debuted during the project, can even further reduce crashes. A fire truck even drove down the street—to prove that emergency services would not be impeded.

“Only a Tactical Urbanism intervention” could have accomplished the kind of public education and permanent changes achieved in San Marcos, notes Dover, Kohl & Partners.

The team effectively engaged the city, the public, and transportation engineers. In the end, the City of San Marcos presented a recommendation of changes in full detail, with correct widths for sidewalks, travel lanes, and on-street parking—everything demonstrated, proven, and publicized in the SMTX project, ready to be implemented permanently.