Lake Street Corridor Reimagined

By Katelyn Cordero
Posted 5/22/19

For many pedestrians crossing the Lake Street corridor is a nightmare. The wide street and lack of road paint or pedestrian lights make it nearly impossible to cross safely.

The City of Newburgh …

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Lake Street Corridor Reimagined

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For many pedestrians crossing the Lake Street corridor is a nightmare. The wide street and lack of road paint or pedestrian lights make it nearly impossible to cross safely.

The City of Newburgh traffic Advisory Committee worked with a group of Yale Alumni to look at ways to improve the Lake Street corridor from an urban development perspective. The group of professionals did the workshop as part of a Yale Day of Service in which Yale alumni perform acts of service within their communities.

The event sponsored by Yale Day of Service,  brought in 10 professionals in architecture, forestry and astronomy to take a look at the Lake Street corridor in terms of quick and economical fixes the city could make immediately and long term projects to ultilize the available natural resources in the area and create a more safe and welcoming environment.

The workshop was organized by Jiuen Yang, an architect in urban design from Habitat Workshop, Naomi Hersson-Ringskog from the Newburgh Traffic Advisory Committee, and architects Matthew Tether, and John Calderon from  Calderon  Architecture & Design. 

“We focused on the Lake Street corridor, one because the area has a lot of potential for green infrastructure and a lot of natural gems that have not been kept to their best potential,” said Yang. “Just crossing the intersection a lot of people are walking from one place to another, there was one woman who told us she was trying to cross the intersection when she was pregnant and pushing a stroller. She had to get to the grocery store and dash to get across the intersection.”

The short term fixes pulled together at the workshop was right-sizing the street. According to Yang the size of Lake Street is much wider than any other street, which makes drivers feel more comfortable speeding through. She proposed using paint to make crosswalks and lanes stand out so drivers are more aware of surroundings.

“Phase one is about training the drivers in the area to drive at a slower speed,” said Yang. “If we actually draw the lines, right now there is no clear line marked to give a boundary for pedestrians to cross the road. By marking the lanes you will teach the driver to slow down and be more aware of their surroundings.”

Also in Phase One is making the area more pleasing to the eye. Hersson-Ringskog talked about putting up a mural that will catch the drivers eye and make them slow down. It will also add character to an area that has been neglected.

In Phase Two the think tank looked at including a bike lane to make the streets more narrow and also to add pedestrian lights to cross the street. These items will take more time and money and are more long term projects then were sketched and planned out in the meeting. Phase two also includes utilizing the natural spaces available in the area, such as Muchattoes and Crystal Lakes.

They looked at ways to gain easy access to the natural resources available and to connect them with the recreational center and the Newburgh Armory Unity Center.

“What was really successful about this workshop was locals sharing experience and ideas with experts that don’t know about Newburgh but have the tools to help,” said Hersson-Ringskog. “I think people felt heard and that their ideas are now actual proposals.”

Hersson-Ringskog and Yang are working to take all the ideas from the workshop to put into a cohesive proposal for the City to look at. They are hopeful that the projects on Lake Street will get done when the funds and resources are available. The short term fixes will be proposed to the City of Newburgh by the Traffic Advisory Committee to make the area safer for pedestrians.