WESTERLY — Residents and others who have ideas on how to improve the Route 1 corridor as well as those who would like more information about efforts to give the area a facelift are invited to attend a workshop on Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Westerly Library.
Hosted by the Economic Development Commission and the Planning Board, the “stakeholder” workshop is one of several opportunities for public comment on efforts to improve the roadway from its intersection with Tower Street to the Charlestown line. A working draft of a report on a study of the corridor is available for review at https://www.route1westerly.com/. The same website explains how to submit comments on the draft report, which will be updated to reflect the comments and input before it is formally passed to the Planning Board for review and eventual submission to the Town Council. The report is expected to include specific recommendations on how to improve the corridor. A survey being used as part of the study can also be found on the website.
The workshop, which will be conducted in the library’s third-floor Terrace Room, will include an overview of work to date on the project, an opportunity for input from those in attendance, a group exercise geared toward developing improvement ideas for the corridor, and a discussion of steps required to attain goals, once they are firmly set, for the corridor.
Stakeholders, in essence, means anyone who uses the corridor or is interested in its future.
“It could be residents, business owners, organization, or nonprofits. Basically, anyone who uses the corridor or has an interest in it,” said James Torres, Economic Development Commission chairman.
Input from residents will be critical to developing an actionable plan, Torres said.
“We want to make sure the community is supportive of the ideas to improve Route 1. To be successful we are going to need people’s input and then their buy-in,” Torres said.
A desire to improve the aesthetics across the corridor, doing something about empty parking lots, strip-malls and outdated building designs, reducing the confusion and visual clutter of signage, lessening the challenge of egress, ingress and navigation issues with businesses and with traffic flows, have emerged as goals. Other ideas include allowing mixed-use development along the corridor or parts of it, finding ways for property owners to work together, and changing the town’s zoning regulations to make it easier for property owners and businesses to bring about the type of change envisioned in the report once it becomes final.
Members of the EDC and the Planning Board are working on the study and report with representatives of consultant, Weston & Sampson, an environmental engineering and planning firm with offices in Massachusetts. Weston & Sampson staff will help facilitate the workshop, which will be attended by members of the EDC and Planning Board, Torres said.
While those planning to attend the workshop have been asked to RSVP through the study website, Torres said individuals are welcome to attend without signing up in advance.