design elements - San Jacinto Texas Historic District

FARM TO MARKET ROADS
Corridor design applied along Farm to Market
Roads, which are often more rural than urban
in nature, should enhance roadside character
and consider wayfi nding and other means of
highlighting cultural and natural landscapes
and features.
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The restoration of native habitats and
preservation of specimen trees should be
a focus of these corridors, as well as tree
planting.
Existing Site
EXISTING CONDITIONS
24 │ SCENARIOS
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Non-motorized traffi c should be safely
separated from road traffi c through
the use of separate paths, pavement
markings, or the use of naturalized
landscapes as a buff er between roadway
and trails.
Regional signage should eff ectively
provide direction to tourists and
residents while projecting a consistent
District character.
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Where trails cross the roadway, well-marked
crosswalks should give visual priority to
pedestrians and bikes. When positioned at
regular intervals along the trail, interpretive
signage adds to the educational value of the
regional trail system.
A maintenance edge of short grass may be
expanded near crosswalks and where sight
triangles expand from the road corridor, such
as at intersections.
The existing Farm to Market Road site, along
Independence Parkway near the San Jacinto
Battleground State Historic Site, is an example
of a rural roadway where wide berths and
open views inspire fast speeds and potentially
unsafe conditions for non-motorized traffi c.
Large expanses of turf grass require signifi cant
maintenance out of proportion to the ecological
services provided, and do little to evoke a native
Texas landscape.