Marita Roos as project director, designer or manager while with Andropogon or HNTB
Lower Venice Island Stormwater Park
Lower Venice Island was chosen by the Philadelphia Water Department as a location for a combined sewer-separation tank mandated by Federal EPA Phase II regulations. Ms. Roos was principal landscape architect for a master plan and design for an urban park sited above the tank, working with the local business community and recreational users to plan for park programs. The park was developed as a green roof, with tree trenches to capture and release water, wetland cells to clean parking lot stormwater and a children's spray garden that utilized clean roof runoff. Native plantings and bio-engineered stabilization measures were used to restore the riverbank at the edge of the island.
Anacostia Waterfront Initiative
The Anacostia River Trail is a planned 16-mile multi-use trail along the east and west banks of the Anacostia River in the Washington, DC. The River Trail is a key component of the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative (AWI) Framework Plan, enhancing parkland, improving water quality, and increasing access to waterfront destinations. Ms. Roos led the planning group responsible for website graphics and communication materials, community integration, green infrastructure planning, development of a community boathouse site and sustainable design for riparian wetlands.
Several projects required sensitive negotiations with community groups, in particular a proposed highway bridge between two Anacostia River neighborhoods. The planning group developed multiuse trail designs, stormwater capture and wetland mitigation plans for the bridge and incorporated a community boathouse into the eventual plan.
Several projects required sensitive negotiations with community groups, in particular a proposed highway bridge between two Anacostia River neighborhoods. The planning group developed multiuse trail designs, stormwater capture and wetland mitigation plans for the bridge and incorporated a community boathouse into the eventual plan.
Central Delaware Waterfront Vision Plan
The Central Delaware Waterfront Vision Plan involved over 1000 citizens of Philadelphia in an open planning process for new waterfront development. The Waterfront has been privately controlled, with little coordinated development and virtually no public access to the riverfront. The Vision Plan focused on reconnecting the urban street grid to the river and integrating green design through stormwater management and river restoration. With Penn Praxis, Ms. Roos facilitated a number of civic engagement sessions to develop planning guidelines during the visioning process and led the Andropogon team to develop ecological guidelines for the Waterfront Vision Plan. Guidelines included: redeveloping gray infrastructure as green, creating multipurpose, productive landscapes, using streets and sites to regulate climate and planning for climate change by careful placement of waterfront facilities. The plan, presented by WRT, won a top award from the Congress for New Urbanism in 2008.
Three Rivers Park Landscape Management Guidelines
For Riverlife Task Force and the City of Pittsburgh, Ms. Roos directed a plan for renewing ecology to sixteen miles of urban waterfront in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. The waterfront was studied for its historic uses, remediation needs, community access and development potential to determine suitability for ecological renewal and management. The eventual plan incorporated demonstration projects for stormwater capture and reuse, complete streets, new urban parks and a riverfront greenway.