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Bug Light Park is featured in the December 2008 issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine. The park is at the mouth of the Fore River with sweeping views of Casco Bay. Park features include a five-acre sloped lawn / amphitheatre rising twenty feet, a curving shore walk, tree maze, a restored seawall, a multi-purpose recreational field, kite field, restored Greek Revival lighthouse and a parking lot the size and shape of a Liberty Ship. The project also includes a full-scale replica of a Liberty Ship bow with interpretive signage. Existing stands of Red Pines have been augmented with new plantings creating windbreaks and less exposed areas for picnicking.

Bug Light Park is one of the most accessible and popular parks in Casco Bay. It is the terminus of a citywide trail system. MRLD is planning, designing and permitting the upper portion of the trail system, Cummings Greenway, at the headwaters of the Long Creek watershed.

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MRLD and Smart Mobility are studying the Franklin Arterial Corridor for the potential transformation to a pedestrian-friendly urban street with reclaimed land in the right of way supporting mixed-use development. Franklin Arterial connects I-295 to the Main State Pier while intersecting Cumberland Avenue, Congress Street, Middle Street and Commercial Street. Franklin Arterial is a key access point to Portland, but many see it as a gesture of Robert Moses size proportions, dividing the city in two. Any redesign of Franklin Arterial must take into account a number of factors including economic development, pedestrian safety and scale and vehicular movement - the full spectrum of issues creating sustainable urbanism. In a “Revisioning Workshop” the community established the following goals for a new Franklin “Street”.

Franklin Street will be a beautiful, vibrant, urban street in the center of a new neighborhood. It will:

Be a multi-way boulevard connecting the Waterfront to Back Cove that serves autos, existing and future transit, pedestrians, and cyclists equally.

Be designed for lower speeds, accommodate pedestrian and cyclist safety, and lower exhaust levels.

Provide a positive gateway experience, connect historic neighborhoods, reconnect the street grid, provide for human scale, pedestrian-oriented development, and allow for buildings oriented to the street.

Be redesigned to maximize the use of space, and provide an environmentally friendly framework for mixed-use development and housing.

Provide connections to multi-use trails, access to green space, opportunities for community gardens, add land to Lincoln Park, and provide for trees and public art. 

The Franklin Reclamation Authority 

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MRLD and Wlbur Smith Associates are developing a Streetscape Study to improve the overall sense of place for downtown Westbrook. The context sensitive solution based Study builds on the renaissance of Westbrook by introducing innovative guidelines to encourage economic development and minimize environmental impacts through sustainable design for streets, buildings and green infrastructure. The Study also includes recommendations for the fundamentals of urban design including building form and scale, required pedestrian amenities, balancing the needs of vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians, new streets and alignments, the identification of land and buildings for mixed-use redevelopment, recreation opportunities and increasing access to the Presumpscot River. All streetscape improvements will be ADA compliant. Aspects of the “complete streets” include fly ash concrete sidewalks, LED street lights, on-street parking, bike racks,  bump outs, porous paving and pavers, street tree systems with stormwater infiltration beds and recycled metal tree grates.

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MRLD in collaboration with Wilbur Smith Associates and Kleinschmidt is planning and designing a waterfront park on the Damariscotta River to enhance water access and strenghten pedestrian connections between Main Street and the waterfront. The project also includes improvements to parking arrangements, drainage, signage, and streetscape components. The Master Plan is being carefully coordinated with several other plans including the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan and the recently awarded Orton Family Foundation Heart and Soul Grant. MRLD will be working closely with the Damariscotta Planning Advisory Committee, the Damariscotta River Association in addition to the Shore and Harbor Committee.

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