Downtown Bellingham Streetscape and Infrastructure Improvements

While the City of Bellingham’s aging downtown street system has created a need for numerous ongoing repairs and upgrades, there is a silver lining: an opportunity to devise a long-term framework for addressing key infrastructure challenges while supporting a cohesive streetscape identity. Rather than treating each sidewalk, intersection, or stormwater upgrade as an isolated project, the City wanted a consistent approach to improving downtown streets while meeting accessibility requirements and reinforcing City Center identity as well as the character of unique districts.

To these ends, MIG collaborated with the City to develop the City Center Street Design Standards, a practical toolkit to guide future capital improvements consistently over time. The standards provide guidance on materials and streetscape elements, pedestrian access, green stormwater infrastructure, illumination, and other enhancements. Designed as a living document, the standards can evolve as regulations change and the City gains implementation experience.

MIG then successfully applied the standards to street improvement projects on four blocks of Champion Street and three blocks of Holly Street. Street overlays and utility replacement created opportunities to improve accessibility, preserve and enhance existing street trees, and improve the pedestrian experience at intersections.

The City Center Street Design Standards give Bellingham a flexible framework for guiding downtown investments while demonstrating how they can be translated into practical, unified street improvements. Over the long term, implementation will result in a distinctive City Center streetscape that is more accessible, pedestrian-oriented, and environmentally responsive.