PAWTUCKET DOWNTOWN DESIGN PLAN FINAL ... - VHB.com

EXCHANGE STREET
instead of reconfiguring them, could allow people to use their natural instincts
to get around. All we had to do in a town developed during the textile era was
knit its original threads back together.
The Pawtucket Downtown Design Plan proposes five concepts in response to
specific problems that look backward to move forward — not through nostalgia
but common sense.
PROBLEM While Pawtucket is not congested, it is really hard to get to and
move around downtown.
CONCEPT The first concept reconnects the historic turnpike system, including
the former Boston Post Road, so that travelers see clearly how to get to and
from Main Street. This Turnpike System concept would first be implemented
on Main Street and East Avenue Extension by opening them to two-way traffic,
decreasing wide intersections, increasing on street parking, and enhancing
both pedestrian and bicycle access. Supportive details of this system include
wayfinding and street signage that work from prior downtown signage
programs, environmentally and business-friendly street furnishing options for
Main Street, and the recommendation of a lighting replacement program.
This project also encourages the use of newly available public space in key
locations to be developed into special gateways to downtown.
PROBLEM The rail, the river, the highway, public transit and an upcoming
Blackstone Valley Bikeway all come through but not together in downtown.
CONCEPT The second concept identifies Exchange Street as a true place of
“exchange” between the highway, the river, the coming train station, and the
delineated systems for bicycles, local car and bus traffic, and pedestrians. This
concept would first be implemented on Exchange Street between Broadway
and the Nathanson Bridge in the Armory District and near Tolman High School
as part of an existing street improvement project currently underway. The
Exchange concept employs the sidewalk ribbon concept that employs a
buffer space between pedestrians and traffic where public amenities, utilities
FINAL REPORT
5