The Allen Street Improvement Project is starting to come into focus. The corner of Allen and Pearl gives us an initial glimpse of the future – a commercial street that is not only more conducive to walking, it’s also a place that will be event and festival friendly. The new street infrastructure boasts nice wide sidewalks, with large planters, removable parking bollards (coming soon), and decorative street lamp standards.
I’m a big fan of the clay-earthy coloring of the sidewalk approaches, which are reminiscent of historic cobblestone streets. The warm color is calming, and feels very natural.
Walking by this corner is a breath of fresh air – after years of waiting for this project to come to fruition, we’re finally seeing some nice results. It will be great to see the addition of the trees to this streetscape – trees will go a long way towards creating a more welcoming commercial district, while offering shade, a splash of color, and additional natural vibrancy.
For far too long, Allen Street has felt cramped, outdated, and broken. This new injection of life is long overdue, and very welcome.
Hopefully this project will help to attract some businesses into the Red Jacket building. The rest of Allen Street is looking commercially dense, with some reliable anchor businesses, and some newbies that have recently come onto the scene. I’m sure that when this project is complete, Allen Street will have its mojo back, thankfully.
To learn more about this project, click here.