The 2, 5, and 10 Minute Village Concept

2,5, and 10 Minute Villages To define the study area, the VSC created three geographic concepts of York Village. Using the Civil War monument as a central point of reference, we defined three villages in terms of how long it might take a pedestrian to walk from the center to the periphery of each zone: the 2-minute village -- extending roughly 1/8 mile from the monument, and a 5 and 10 minute village.

Note the drawings shown here are all focused on the 2-minute village but do not show the full extent of the geographic area.

Developing a Vision for the York Village of Tomorrow

Note:

The scenarios below are the results of the original work of the Committee (2011-2013) in order to have a visual means to present potential concepts to the wider community for discussion in the early development of this project. With the hiring of a team of consultants in 2014 to develop a formal master plan for the Village, new design concepts are currently under development which incorporate some of the features shown here with ideas developed from ongoing integration of community inputs and engineering and technical reviews. If you would like to contribute to the development of the master plan, please attend one or more of our community events.

Background

The Village Study Committee gathered data and input from residents, business owners, and public safety and infrastructure agencies to help formulate a list of objectives, and a series of visual scenarios (see box at right) to help develop our ideas. There has been broad agreement that the following objectives should be included in any final choice of action:

Town Hall and the Civil War monument should stay in the Village.
The Village needs to be safer and more convenient for pedestrians,
with safe sidewalks and crosswalks.
Traffic should be “calmed” down and intersections should be safer.
There should be adequate parking, but no perpendicular or angled spaces.
There should be more expanded and attractive “green space”
(there is about 1,500 square feet currently).
The Village’s historic character should be preserved and expanded substantially.

Traffic in the area around the Civil War monument is viewed by the VSC as critical for the future of the Village. Whatever is done must preserve the historic character of the monument area while at the same time calming traffic through the Village, realigning the flow of traffic and reforming the pattern of on-site parking. The Committee came up with a variety of ways in which this can be accomplished.

Overview

Our work to date has resulted in a decision to proceed with three options (discussed below) to be developed further by the committee and presented to the public for consideration. The VSC also considered additional options but rejected them: one involved a roundabout encircling the monument; two others were based on a series of one-way streets. These ideas were dropped because the VSC believed that they were either not consistent with the historic character of the Village, too expensive to implement, or too disruptive of the economic activities of the Village.

The committee’s three options for further consideration by the town are explained below. Ultimately, it will be up to the Board of Selectmen and the voters to decide on the best choice. Each option contains the same main elements which we believe will make York Village a livelier, safer and more economically sustainable place while retaining its historic character:

narrower travel lanes for cars and trucks,
reconfigured parking spaces,
reduced asphalt with more pedestrian and green space,
more room for bicycles, better and more connected sidewalks for greater walkability,
improved crosswalk placement,
places for people to sit,
restoration of deciduous street trees,
better street lighting,
relocated utility lines, and
improved signage.

The three options below build upon each other in both size of green space and features added. The current amount of green space in the area under study in these options is approximately 1,500 sq ft. In the Monument Garden option, green space increases to about 3,500 sq ft. The amount of green space grows to approximately 4,500 and 9,000 sq ft in the Village Park and Town Common options, respectively.

Options Under Consideration

1. Monument Garden

One key improvement in this option is the addition of wider sidewalks, often described as “broadwalks.” These broadwalks could be fashioned out of brick for a more traditional New England village look.
In addition, small garden spaces could be added as part of the broadwalk design.
The enlarged gardens around the Civil War Monument would include walkways to provide an attractive “safety zone” in the middle of the village which connects to crosswalks from all three sides of the monument garden.
The sidewalk plan also includes several other pedestrian safety zones. Many of these safety zones also serve to define sections of parallel parking more clearly.
Another improvement is the addition and better placement of well defined pedestrian crosswalks which would interconnect to safety zones on each side of the road. These crosswalks could also be fashioned out of brick visually connecting them to the broadwalks.
All on-street perpendicular or angled parking spaces would be replaced with parallel parking spaces. This would correct existing difficult and dangerous conditions for both motorists and pedestrians. Additional off-street parking would be provided to make up for any on-street spaces lost as a result of this design.
Although traffic patterns throughout the village would remain the same, the addition of broadwalks would result in narrower traffic lanes, which has been proven to “calm” traffic by reducing vehicle speed and improving visibility on both sides of the road.
As with all three options, in order to facilitate broadwalks and safety zones, communication and power utilities would be rerouted either underground or to utility poles placed behind existing structures.

2. Village Park

The Village Park option would include all of the changes in the Monument Garden option. The monument would stay where it is, but the center island would be expanded significantly to provide more green space.
As in the Monument Garden option, head-in parking in front of the Old Cox Store building would be replaced with parallel parking.
Some parking spaces in front of the old Methodist Church building and in front of the Bank of America building would be removed to improve motorist visibility and traffic lane management. There is adequate parking in private lots behind these buildings and the added space in front would allow for wider sidewalks, expanded green buffers and better crosswalk placement to improve pedestrian safety.
With this scenario, the traffic pattern would change slightly in the village. The lane from York Street northwest to Long Sands Road on the southeast side of the monument would become one-way. A left-turn lane would be added on Long Sands Road at the intersection with York Street so that vehicles wanting access to the east side of the village - including York Hospital via Hospital Drive and the York Village Fire Station - may do so with ease. The stop sign that is there today would remain in this scenario.

3. Town Common

The area around the monument is where this option would affect significant change in the Village. In this scenario, we would completely eliminate the short section of street in front of the Masiello Building (Old Cox Store), which now allows two-way travel and has head-in parking spaces.
A grassy common would stretch from the monument to the sidewalk in front of the Masiello building and extend from the edge of the Cumberland Farms parking lot around to the entrance of the public library. Walking paths would radiate eastward from gardens around the monument. This would be an area where people could sit and relax, perhaps eat lunch, or enjoy an ice cream cone. It could be a setting for outdoor performances.
All traffic flowing between York Street and Long Sands Road would move west of the monument. The current island on which the monument stands would lose some of its western side, though the monument itself would not move. There would be turn lanes coming out of Long Sands Road to allow traffic to turn in either direction onto York Street, with the current stop sign remaining in place. Drivers coming from York Harbor would pass the monument before turning right onto Long Sands Road.
In this scenario the monument becomes the focal point of a public park creating a defining, central “common” in the middle of the Village. It would give the Village a more appealing, relaxing character, encourage longer stays by visitors and provide a less hectic feel for residents and people who work in the Village.
The Town Common option would meet all objectives to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety while creating a much more attractive village atmosphere for resting, sightseeing, shopping, or any other pedestrian activity.

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