Queen Street Urban Design Guidelines - City of Sault Ste Marie

QUEEN STREET
URBAN DESIGN
GUIDELINES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.....INTRODUCTION.....URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK.....DESIGN GUIDELINES.....CASE STUDIES.....DESIGN REVIEW PROCESS.....RECOMMENDATIONS
2.2 Summary Analysis &
Opportunities
A series of Urban Design Issues & Opportunities
were identifi ed based upon site visits, Phase 1
mapping analysis, interviews with stakeholders
and City of Sault Ste. Marie staff. The
framework for the Queen Street Urban Design
Guidelines build upon these 6 opportunities and
uses them as a basis for addressing matters
relating to land use, aesthetics, pedestrian
amenities, transportation and circulation. The
opportunities are discussed in further detail
below.
2.2.1 RIVERFRONT CITY
The City of Sault Ste. Marie enjoys the
fortunate location of being situated along the
St. Mary’s River, a shipping arterial in the heart
of the Great Lakes region. The City is in a
desirable position as it owns or has attained
public easements along the vast majority of
its riverfront with signifi cant land holdings
available for civic and recreational amenity. An
opportunity currently exists to physically and
visually connect Queen Street to this riverfront
asset through streetscape improvements,
through-block connections and the protection of
view corridors.
2.2.2 SCALE & GRAIN OF THE
DOWNTOWN
The Downtown core with the exception of
streets and blocks adjacent to the riverfront
consists of a series of streets and blocks
that are at a pedestrian scale of on average
140 meters (500 ft.) in depth by 220 meters
(750 ft.) in length. As a 5-minute walking
radius for the average person is 400 meters,
the length of Queen Street can be walked
in approximately 15 to 20 minutes, and a
pedestrian can reach the riverfront trail from
Queen Street in approximately 10 minutes.
This is a valuable asset for any municipality
interested in encouraging alternative modes
of transportation such as walking and cycling.
However, opportunities exist to enhance the
pedestrian network by making improvements
to microclimate conditions, handicap access,
lighting and safety.
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CITY OF SAULT STE. MARIE.....SEPTBEMBER 2006