New street grid plan aims to enhance connectivity

For many years, the City of Avondale Estates has discussed and dreamed of a street grid that is pedestrian-friendly and prime for future development. Those dreams took another step toward fruition when the Board of Mayor and Commissioners voted at the Dec. 16 meeting to incorporate a layout for a new downtown street grid into the City’s Downtown Master Plan, according to a news release.

Designed by Pond and Company, the street grid will affect the look and feel of the neighborhoods and how to navigate them. The original plans for the city were never fully built out and certainly never envisioned the type of transportation used today, said city officials.

Over the years modifications to the existing street network resulted in reduced connectivity. This newly adopted plan addresses those challenges and provides the framework for a walkable and exciting downtown area. The plan proposes several potential pocket parks consistent with of the historic neighborhood aesthetic, supports a highly landscaped public realm, features additional on-street parking and encourages multimodal transportation at slow speeds.

This street grid is also designed to support a variety of development types that will match the charm and vision of the downtown area.

Now that the plan and layout have been approved, it will become part of the City’s Downtown Master Plan and will be a guiding document for the re-write of the City’s zoning codes, underway now. The City will work to incorporate the street grid into the City’s zoning as part of the regulating plan. The zoning rewrite is expected to be completed and adopted this spring.

Information: avondaleestates.org

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