The Incorporated Village of Westhampton Beach is a quaint, seaside community on the southeast coast of Long Island. Previously affected by frequent flooding, cracked pavements, and worn pedestrian crossings, the commercial Main Street of Westhampton Beach regularly suffered from coastal storm damage. When 2,100 feet of roadway and sidewalks reached the end of their lifecycle, the Village decided that simply replacing and repaving the status quo was no longer adequate; it was time to dramatically transform Main Street in favor of a comprehensive vision that would bring significant economic, environmental, and public safety benefits to their downtown business corridor.
The Village engaged H2M architects + engineers (H2M) to bring their vision to life. The Village decided to completely overhaul Main Street's infrastructure by emphasizing stormwater control, long-term sustainability, and an improved pedestrian experience. H2M's civil engineers and landscape architects capitalized on the multiple opportunities offered by a revitalized infrastructure project. This involved a roadway re-configuration that included a new drainage system to improve stormwater quality and runoff and the relocation of overhead utilities underground. The enhanced corridor was anchored by two new roundabouts that improved overall traffic flow. Concurrently, narrowing the street slowed down traffic while providing wider sidewalks and shorter crosswalk distances to encourage foot traffic into local businesses and improve the pedestrian experience.
The old Main Street corridor expected visitors to walk long distances with few opportunities to rest in the shade during hot summers. The new landscape infrastructure features a tree-lined street of both shade trees and tightly upright columnar trees, the latter chosen to not obscure store signage, which was a major concern of the local business owners. The wider sidewalks allow for new trees set in a 5-foot-wide permeable pavement strip that will help filter out impurities captured from stormwater runoff. Underneath the sidewalk's impervious concrete pavement, structural soils were placed to encourage tree root growth and deter pavement heaving. The street trees are also set in recycled plastic tree grates within the permeable paving strip as part of the Village's sustainability goals.

 
Main Street's reduced roadway width includes angled on-street parking with planted curb extensions that minimize the distance pedestrians must walk against vehicular traffic, improving pedestrian access and safety. Additionally, the wider sidewalk includes shaded pocket parks with outdoor seating set amongst deer-resistant deciduous and evergreen shrubs, ornamental grasses, and perennial plantings. The tree-lined corridor will ultimately mature to provide the needed shade and comfort for visitors and contribute toward building a classically sophisticated character for the area.
Feedback from the community that was published in local newspapers describe the changes as "universally loved" and "more inviting," describing it as looking "like a town right out of a movie." As the COVID lockdown restrictions eased, these new changes could accommodate the crowds eager to meet again in person. One magazine boasted that the transformation should serve as a model of downtown revitalization that should be copied all over Long Island.


The upcoming Streetscapes Issue of Landscape Architect and Specifier News saw many firms submit their projects for feature consideration. This project was not chosen for a Feature in the issue, but we at LandscapeArchitect.com thought the project deserved to be showcased online . . .

To have your project featured in LASN or on LandscapeArchitect.com please email dherbold@landscapearchitect.com

For more information about submitting a project, go to: https://landscapearchitect.com/research/editorial/editorial-submissions.php