The City Loop is a high-quality urban protected bikeway that is envisioned as part of the Destination Medical Center in downtown Rochester, MN.

Alta, as part of a team, developed a preferred alignment and concept designs for the City Loop. The work focused on designing low-stress, high-quality facilities that make walking and bicycling inviting, convenient, and safe, for people of all ages and abilities. Alta prepared design vocabulary options (including paving materials, lighting, signing and striping, vegetation, furniture, and amenities), evaluated issues and opportunities for multiple alignment alternatives, created implementation strategies, and developed preliminary concepts including intersection layouts and illustrative sections.

The DMC describes itself as “a global destination for health and wellness.” As part of the site assessment phase of the project, Alta conducted a health analysis to examine the rate and distribution of chronic disease across the city. Using the CDC’s 500 cities data, Alta developed a series of choropleth maps that geographically locate disparities in health throughout the city. In particular, we examined indicators that physical activity has been found to have positive impacts on, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and mental health. Findings were shared at a public open house to present the role this project can play on increasing physical activity and shaping community health outcomes. The analysis was used to justify the importance of designing the City Loop to be a safe and comfortable facility for people of all ages and abilities in an effort to maximize the potential number of people who will use the new facility and realize positive health outcomes