Forest Ave

P

Patrick

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Forest Ave., as many know already, is going to be the subject of a city initiated planning effort coming up. Here are the details:

Transforming Forest Avenue

4/26/2011 - Transforming Forest Avenue: The City has embarked on a study to look at the Forest Avenue corridor between Park Ave and Woodford?s Corner. In May and June, the City will be hosting a series of public meetings to discuss ways to improve the corridor in terms of mobility for motorists, buses, cyclists and pedestrians. The study will also looks at land use, exploring innovative ways to leverage transportation and other public investments to stimulate private redevelopment and infill of underutilized properties. Please visit the project website for more information.


Public Meeting Schedule:
1st Public Advisory Committee Meeting:
May 4, 2011
5:30pm-8:00pm
University of Southern Maine, Abromson Center. Room 213
*The public is invited to attend this meeting, however public comment will not be taken.

Corridor Walk and 1st Public Meeting:
May 12, 2011
Corridor Walk: 4:30 pm-5:45 pm
*We will meet in front of the University of Southern Maine Abromson Center on Bedford Street.
Public Meeting: 6-8pm
University of Southern Maine, Abromson Center. Room 109-110.

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This corridor is remarkably similar to the Columbia Pike revitalization efforts. There is a strip sprawl entrance to the City supported by strong neighborhoods a block off the way. There are existing mixed use structures and it has enormous amounts of untapped potential. I think this street has more potential than Franklin Arterial, Spring Street, and all of Bayside together.
 
I agree, Forest Ave has a lot of potential. It already has the type of development and community surrounding it to make it a more successful roadway in the future. It's one of the major gateways into town and should be designed as such. The same goes for the Exit 6 interchange.

I tend to compare Forest Ave with Boston's Commonwealth Ave around BU. Forest Ave has USM and Commonwealth Ave has Boston University. Although USM isn't as intertwined with Forest as BU is with Commonwealth, it's still close by and has the potential for future growth. From an out-of-towner's point of view, Commonwealth Ave seems very successful. It accommodates automobiles, light rail in the median (the subway), bike lanes, and spacious sidewalks. It also has a decent mix of residential, business, and educational developments.

If this type of stuff interests anyone, I encourage members of this forum to sign up to the Portland Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee group and attend a meeting or two. Mr. Cneal is currently the chairman of the group. The next scheduled meeting is Monday, May 9th at City Hall, room 209.

portlandmainefall2010ou.jpg

^This is a good straight stretch for some light rail or BRT or something!
 
Could you link to the project website?

This does sound interesting--I think Bayside has a ton of potential, but spines like this connecting lower-density urban neighborhoods with city centers have are critical to expanding urban livability beyond the downtown.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like much of Forest Ave is already lined with urban-appropriate commercial buildings. They may only be one or two stories, but that seems fine to me in an area like this, with greater density at the Woodford's Corner node. Running frequent transit of any sort combined with the inherently walkable neighborhoods on either side could make this a great area, and extend a degree of urbanism beyond the peninsula.

I like the comparison to Commonwealth around BU, especially since both are wide streets heading into the city, though I think with the right planning and design, Forest Ave could be considerably more attractive. It's great to see the City looking at the area holistically--incorporating design, land use and transportation--this should be the norm, but it isn't, so I'm glad to see the approach here.
 
Yep, it already has some urban appropriate buildings, but the idea is to make there more in spots where there are suburban parking areas and large setbacks, as well as improve transit and pedestrian viability here.
 
Regarding Forest Ave., has anyone seen the new commercial building on by Baxter recently (the one that was destroyed during construction but rebuilt)? It has been clad in brick and looks straight out of the Old Port, Freeport, or some other pedestrian friendly shopping town. I really think with more buildings like that Forest Ave would be a great urban place.

Also, there seems to be so much talk of the controversy regarding driving versus walking and how they can both be accommodated....remember the idea to narrow Congress a while back? My thought on that, after spending some time in Jamaica Plain and Cambridge a few weeks ago, is that the two are not mutually exclusive. The way it was in Cambridge was a big street (not something you'd see in the Old Port), yet pedestrians EVERYWHERE with shops, boutiques, bars, restaurants, and all other amenities right along the street. I think it was the Central Square area. To a lesser extent, this is also true of Newbury Street, and Boylston, which are both used by nearly all modes of traffic. JP was the same way (with less nice stores), and was pretty TOD...train stop, main streets, shops, neighborhoods right there, and dense and funky like a big Munjoy Hill area. Anyway, I think Forest Ave has even more potential after seeing these streets. It can be done!
 
Of the office/retail building? I don't know what it is called and it is very small, so the pictures are not online like larger projects...but maybe I can take a picture. The idea is that it is very pedestrian oriented in a strip mall setting.
 
Forest Avenue at one time, did have a trolley system (tracks) that ran out to the old Riverton Trolley Park. But of course, this was many years ago and autos were not as prevalent.
It seems now, society wants to come full circle. Or may be forced to do so in the future anyway because of fuel costs.
 
Those renderings look pretty good. Some small and affordable improvements like those are a step in the right direction. Although much more needs to be done at Exit 6. If we must have on and off ramps here, I strongly support the diamond interchange idea.
 
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