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Focus Areas: Cottage Street
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Photo Simulation - Woodsville Bank & Bishop's Ice Cream
This photo-simulation represents ideas generated from workshops and meetings
in and around this section of Cottage Street. Please read the place game results
below to see some of the ideas that contributed to it.
This poster, which you may have seen around town, describes some of the ideas
that led to the photo simulation.
What do you think?
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Compiled Place Game Results - May 8, 2003
What do you think?
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Site 1 - Cottage Street Bridge
- Evaluation:
Comfort & Image:
• Overall rating = poor
• Not attractive at all
• Sterile, no draw, no color or texture
• It’s a beautiful place, but it needs to be dressed up
Access & Linkages:
• Overall rating = fair
• It’s not safe to cross – cars move too fast
• There’s no sense of a transition to Main street
• It’s fairly walkable
• The signage is confusing – some signs are covered or hidden
Uses & Activities:
• Overall rating = fair
• overall poor rating – there are lots of uses, but they aren’t
very apparent
Sociability:
• Overall rating = poor
Liked Best:
• The river, but you can’t see it well enough – it needs visual
/ directional cues
Recommendations:
Short Term:
• VFW will be adding fallen war hero memorial plaques to the bridge uprights,
as well as a bronze sign naming the bridge on the back side of the Opera House
• Create an entrance to the Riverwalk from the bridge
• Add flags or other visual cues to make the bridge a gateway
• Reduce truck traffic across the bridge – possibly reroute it
o Trucking companies are using out-of-date routing info that sends trucks down
main street – correct the problem
o There are 4 state routes nearby – traffic can be managed better
o Possibly use exit 35 instead of 36 off of I-93
• Create a gateway effect, using welcome signage
• Thin / clear trees to improve the river view
• Consider how the Shoreline Protection Act will affect the Riverwalk
o Include the state in the July workshop
o Is it possible to exempt a section of the downtown shoreline?
Long Term:
• Bury power lines
• Improve lighting with lighting standards
• Create a viewpoint area, cantilevered off the side
• Add window boxes
• Shoulders are wide – could add a median or planting strips to improve
pedestrian experience, with signage
- Potential Partners:
• High School students – school building is nearby
• Garden Club
• VFW
• Nautilus Building
• Historical Society / Museum
What do you think?
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Click here for a slideshow on
"Site 1 - Cottage Street Bridge"
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Site 2 - Railroad Crossing Area
Evaluation:
Comfort & Image:
• Overall rating = poor
Access & Linkages:
• Overall rating = fair
Uses & Activities:
• Overall rating = fair
Sociability:
• Overall rating = fair
Liked best:
• It’s a mixed use area – apartments, senior center, movie store,
etc; with potential as a gathering place
• The Lane House apartments are very nice
• It’s very open with lots of options
Recommendations:
Short Term:
• Put up a welcoming, gateway sign on the unused RR crossing sign
• Clean up the farm & garden store with landscaping or a mural
• Add a planter box at the crosswalk on the Cottage Street side of the bridge
– summertime improvements that can be removed for winter
• Consolidate the curb cuts between Rocky’s Video and the RR crossing
• Add on-street parking & benches at Rocky’s
Long Term:
• Improve the link between Main St. and Cottage St.
o The parade could come up Cottage St. from Main St.
• Turn the railroad tracks into a trail and connect to multi-use trail
• Trim bushes & create a gathering place
o Information station,
trail head, etc
• Suggestions for the Depot:
o Tie it more into
the surrounding area
o Add a sitting
area in front, and landscape the parking area
o Add angled parking
o Do Placemaking
behind depot at the tracks
o Add more temporary
uses
o Rails and trails
– take out Yews from Depot to tracks
• Create a green area at the intersection – add grass instead of
parking
• Define the sidewalk and continue it up the hill to Kilburn
• Add a crosswalk at the top of the hill, where it’s flatter, for
better safety
• Entice people to come up the hill
o Improve the transitional
area
o Add an information
booth / directory
- Potential Partners:
• State of NH – it owns the RR
• Businesses at the bottom of the hill
What do you think?
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Click on the image for a larger view
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Site 3 - Woodsville Guaranty Bank / Bishop's Ice Cream Intersection
Evaluation:
Comfort & Image:
• Overall rating = poor->fair
• Traffic moves fast around the corner approaching the Bank
Access & Linkages:
• Overall rating = fair
• Crossing the street at the Bank / Bishops is difficult
• There are occasional accidents on the curve in front of the bank
• People use the sidewalks all the way up Cottage St and out past I-93
Uses & Activities:
• Overall rating = good
• Bishops & the Bank is a very busy destination in the summer – with
as many as 500 people / day
Sociability:
• Overall rating = fair
• Has potential to be a great meeting place
• A wide range of age groups use this area
Liked best:
• Old, quaint buildings
• Nice, gentle curve of the road
• Scenic view
• Inviting flow
Recommendations:
Short Term:
• Landscaping
• Benches in front of the bank & other buildings
• Crosswalk with signs on the ground (like main street)
• Coordinate medical services signage, create a “district”
feel
• Create a “garden district” for the street
• Establish a “gateway committee” to continue to implement
improvements
• Bank and Ice cream store should become more of one destination – remove
the fence that separates them
Long Term:
• Slow down traffic
o First at Irving Gas, again at 302
• Improve safety – create better walking conditions
o Sidewalks on both
sides at Crane Street
• Add a boulevard feature or a planting strip along the sidewalk
• Bury utilities
• Create a Business Improvement District
- Potential Partners:
• Local business owners – could improve their gardens
What do you think?
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