Landscape Information
This three-mile road was developed by the Board of Park Commissioners in Fort Wayne, Indiana, beginning in 1912. George Kessler provided the standards for the design of the 100-foot wide boulevard. The roadway runs east-west, and is divided with a central median measuring 40 feet wide; four 10-foot wide lanes accommodating two-way vehicular traffic; and a 30-foot shoulder on each side of the road. A five-foot mow strip, originally planted with Oriental plane trees, separates the roadway from corresponding sidewalks. A second band of turf, also planted with Oriental plane trees, separates the public roadway from adjacent private lots. A 25-foot residential buffer was added in the mid-1920s as a result of development on the boulevard.
Rudisill Boulevard connects McMillen Park and Foster Park along the St. Mary's River. The interconnectedness between the boulevard and the parks immediately spurred neighborhood development along its western portion. Development did not come to the eastern section of the road until after World War II. The central core of the boulevard serves as a commercial area; a traffic light was installed in 1966 and the road was widened in 1973 to accommodate greater traffic, resulting in the removal of bands of trees and turf.
