Last week the Sturbridge Commercial Tourist District (CTD) Improvement Plan was unanimously approved by the Town of Sturbridge Planning Board. PLA has been a part of the team that created the plan – along with McCabe Enterprises (Economic Development), Shadley Associates (Landscape Architecture), and led by Pare Corporation (Traffic Engineering). The two-mile-long CTD, along the route 20 corridor, includes one of Central Massachusetts’ biggest tourism draws, Old Sturbridge Village. The corridor also includes access points to rivers, lakes, and other recreational activities – as well as vital connections to residential neighborhoods – all while serving as a major thoroughfare from Interstate 84 to towns to the west. Many of Sturbridge’s most prominent businesses, serving tourists and locals alike, are located along the corridor.
Over the past few months the team has been tasked to create a conceptual design to improve the safety, connections, aesthetics, multi-modal access and walkability of the district. In order to achieve these goals, the team analyzed the corridor and facilitated a public process to develop conceptual elements based on the public input. After iterative rounds of design and feedback from both the CTD Working Group and the public, the team prepared recommendations for future improvements according to the goals and priorities outlined by the town. The proposed project includes multimodal access and markings, continuous and widened sidewalks, better pedestrian connections across the corridor and intersections, improved ADA access, landscaped medians where possible, new street trees, lighting, and street furniture along both sides of Route 20, and a 225-foot, two-lane roundabout serving as a gateway to the Sturbridge CTD at the intersection of Route 20 and 131. The town selectmen will vote for final approval of the plan, after which the plan can begin the funding process for the envisioned three-phase construction.
For more information, check out the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
A special thanks to all of the team members that made this project successful, including:
John Shevlin and Tim Thomson form Pare Corporation, Kathy McCabe from McCabe Enterprises, Pam Shadley and Skyler Chick from Shadley Associates as well as Chris Zarek, Megan Quigley, Alex Hogrefe and Matt Uminski from Paul Lukez Architecture.
Photo by Beverly Kunze
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