Page 6 - Nov-Dec2022 Vol 40 No 5

ALCOA By Megan Brooks, P.E. and Emily Assenmacher
Cohesive Mixed-Use Community:

Alcoa’s Duck Pond Project

The City of Alcoa, along with mixed-use community. would provide connectivity of the school
Jones Brothers Contractors, CDM Understanding the need to tie together campus and Springbrook Neighborhood
Smith Engineers (CEI), and Gresham the old and the new, the city developed to Hall Road (at a recently constructed
Smith Engineering (Design), recently the concept of Marconi Boulevard to signalized intersection.)
completed the Marconi Boulevard and create a meaningful tie between the new The Notice to Proceed to construction
Duck Pond Phase 2 Greenway Project. ‘Downtown’ area of Alcoa to the Alcoa was issued on July 20, 2020. The city,
City Schools Campus. The goal was along with the help of Gresham Smith,
ALCOA Land for Seven Decades to create a City Center for Alcoa that developed options for alignments and
The project’s area has a storied history. doesn’t exist today. These infrastructure typical sections to provide connectivity
When the Aluminum Company of improvements are a cornerstone in for cars, pedestrians and cyclists.
America (ALCOA) closed its Alcoa-area achieving that vision.
West Plant, what remained was a massive Repurposing Old Railroad
parcel of undeveloped land, riddled with Connecting New High School to Local Infrastructure
all the challenges that come along with Neighborhoods The location of the new roadway could
being home to a major industrial facility The planned location of the new road have created a barrier between the school
of 70 years. Over the past two decades, (Marconi) would not only compliment campus and multimodal connectivity to
the City of Alcoa has worked tirelessly the newly constructed Alcoa High School the nearby Greenway system, had it not
to plan and promote the redevelopment (the first project constructed on old been for some ingenious planning on the
of the Alcoa West Plant into a cohesive ALCOA West Plant property), but also part of the city to repurpose old railroad

6 TPW November/December 2022