Downtown streetscape plan needs a creative touch
PHOTO/MATT VOLPINI
The view on Main Street in downtown Worcester, with City Hall in the distance.
Anyone who has not driven or walked around downtown Worcester within the last decade may well be left stunned by the changes that have taken place. After years of talk, but not a lot of action, efforts to make the downtown a more walkable center with a mix of business, satellite college campuses, entertainment and housing are well underway.
It's coming together slowly, and still very much a work in progress — but the effort has achieved the degree of momentum that appears sustainable. Worcester's downtown has suffered from the societal changes of the last four decades, as much as any other mid-sized city, but the turnaround that so many larger urban areas have experienced this century is finally showing signs of materializing here. A key element of any resurgence in downtown Worcester must include an extensive rehabilitation and reinvention of Main Street. Thankfully, that process is underway, with preliminary designs having been shown to a group of business leaders last month in a meeting at the offices of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
That new project, scheduled to start next year, is projected to cost $7.5 million, with $4.5 million being provided by the federal government. The plan would narrow the road between the federal and Worcester County courthouses from two travel lanes to one in each direction, creating both turning lanes and bike lanes. It would also synchronize traffic lights at nine of 11 intersections to help facilitate vehicle flow. Sidewalks would also be ripped up and reconstructed at two levels with both cement and brick to better accommodate pedestrians with disabilities, helping meet requirements of the American with Disabilities Act.
It's a good start, especially the elimination of two of the four traffic lanes, which should help downtown Worcester become a more walkable area. For the planned additions of hundreds of housing units and hotel rooms over the next few years to be successful, the area must become more pedestrian friendly.
The old elements of Main Street are “pretty tired looking,” Joseph F. Borbone, director of the city's engineering department, told the chamber gathering. “They don't show off Worcester the way we want to show off Worcester.”
That's where Worcester and its businesses on Main Street have an opportunity: to not just bring the aesthetics of Main Street into the 21st century, but to give it a unique look that can set it apart from other downtowns.
What kind of creative approach would give the downtown a unique Worcester brand? It can begin with a more active engagement with the arts, which has already planted a downtown stake with the Hanover Theatre and Mechanics Hall, and with the Worcester Art Museum not that far off the path. Open-air art displays and a designated area for small-group performances along the downtown stretch can draw walkers and nearby residents, creating a spillover effect for local businesses. A rest area for bicyclists — with sidewalk vendors — is another way to engage pedestrians and create more activity on the street. And why not expand Worcester's Wi-Fi “hot spot” at City Hall Common to accommodate more pedestrians?
One attendee at last month's meeting, Randy Feldman, an attorney with an office on Main Street, urged officials to go beyond the basics in their planning. “Downtown remains completely unexceptional,” he said. “We have to do something dramatically nicer.”
We agree. Worcester has made impressive strides with its downtown development plans and we believe it has charted the right course with its plan for further mixed residential and commercial development. How to leverage that momentum and make the downtown a more memorable experience is key, and getting it right can make a big difference in maintaining that momentum. Many larger cities across the United States have seen a boom in residential building and the spinoff of increased activity in their urban cores. With the growing interest in more urban living, Worcester is well positioned to finally see the kind of expansion to its core that was no more than a dream less than a decade ago. In many cases, as the core city goes, so goes the region. Worcester's leaders need to continue to make smart investments to boost the economic vitality of its downtown.
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