The ability to safely and easily walk between stores, restaurants, businesses, and government offices is a defining feature of most successful downtowns. As part of ongoing efforts to enhance the vitality of its central business district, the Town of Amherst turned its attention to walkability in response to both citizen concerns and the recommendations of its Town Development Area study which was completed in the summer of 2016.
The primary focus of the Downtown Amherst Pedestrian Safety and Walkability Study was the South Main Street corridor between Second Street and Route 60. The purpose of this study was to identify practical and effective improvements that could be made to the street corridor to better facilitate pedestrian travel in the downtown area.
The study process included multiple meetings of a citizen steering committee, a general public meeting, traffic data collection and analysis, and an accessibility analysis. The primary concerns that were identified through these efforts included limited pedestrian and crosswalk visibility, high vehicle speeds in the downtown, missing and deficient sidewalk ramps, and numerous sidewalk obstructions. Other ideas for improvements outside of the core downtown area were also discussed, including a connecting trail between the campus of Sweet Briar College and the Ambriar commercial area.
These and other issues are addressed by the study’s improvement recommendations, which have been broken into three phases. The first two phases, which include pavement marking improvements (such as creation of bicycle lanes) and replacement of certain missing sidewalk features, will be implemented in conjunction with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Main Street repaving project, which is scheduled to occur in mid-2017.
The third phase calls for more extensive sidewalk and streetscape installation throughout the downtown area. The project consultants, EPR and Renaissance Planning, are currently working with the town to further refine the phasing plan and develop cost estimates that can be used to secure funding for project elements.
A copy of the study can be downloaded HERE.
