Twenty Years, Twenty Stories
ASLA + NPS Partnership: Downtown Connector Trail
Sanford, Maine. 2019
Thanks to the partnership between the National Park Service and the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the City of Sanford, Maine, had extra design talent to help them imagine improvements to streets that connect parts of their trail system through the heart of the city. When the Maine-ASLA Chapter called for volunteers, a local firm, ALA, offered a small team. The team helped study the area, prepare maps, tour with stakeholders, facilitate a charrette, and present community-informed ideas to the City Council. The drawings and sketches convey visionary yet practical ideas that will make the corridor safer and more inviting for bicyclists, pedestrians, vehicles, and local businesses. Suggestions include a new two-way bike path, “share the road” sections, sidewalks, street trees, intersection improvements, and street life through sidewalk cafes and shops. The City Council reacted with enthusiasm and praise!
The City has already begun vetting the ideas and will be applying for grants to refine and implement the Downtown Connector plan. The area was highlighted on June 1, National Trails Day, with a community bicycle event, and a local bicyclist raised $1000 to pay for police officers needed to close the Downtown Connector streets during the event.
The Downtown Connector project came out of the Sanford Trails Committee’s work, facilitated by RTCA, to create a Sanford Trails Master Plan. The committee is currently meeting with a wide cross-section of community groups to present and get feedback on the draft plan.
Read more about the ASLA + NPS Partnership