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Garrick,Wang,Miniutti,and Bishop 35 The real importance of this project is that it is the first of its kind in the region in years and it serves as a model for other towns that want to convert misplaced highways into context sensitive avenues. SAVANNAH, GEORGIA Savannah is renowned for its historical city center that was laid out around 21 small parks that make the city graceful and beautiful with its antebellum homes and its shaded streets (see Figure 4). These parks also break up the streets, slow traffic, and offer a stunning environment to complement some of America's best-preserved period architecture.The city of Savannah is deploying a comprehensive program of streetscape revitalization from River Street to 52nd Street: the median improvement along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is a component of this revitalization program. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is the western gateway into Savannah,thus the city targeted this area for redevelopment(see Figure 5). The median construction on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard aims to calm traffic, provide safer pedestrian crossing, and build a streetscape more unified with downtown Savannah (see Figure 6). Currently, more than 1.3 million visitors annually visit the Savannah Visitor Center located on the segment of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between Liberty Street and Oglethorpe Street, and more than 1,500 Savannah College of Art and Design students live and work in the area. Thus improvements to street features such as medians and pedestrian crosswalks are necessary to make the area more attractive to pedestrians. f i P FIGURE 4 Traditional streetscape in the historical center of Savannah,Georgia.