Chestnut Hill Square -- Pedestrian Connection C

Chestnut Hill Square's connection to the southeast simply fails. How does someone from the neighborhood get to the grocery store? To the residences? To the bus stop? Especially with the entrance to the parking lot closed, there's simply no safe, comfortable, and attractive access to the site from the southeast.



As noted earlier, even New England Development's own circulation plan drops pedestrians at the edge of the parking lot, to fend for themselves (A). Not only is it the edge of the parking lot, it's probably the spot along the southern border of the site that is most distant from any sidewalk ... it's the longest possible walk across a parking lot.

There's no provision for a sidewalk to accommodate any neighbors traveling along the north side of Florence Street (B) ... from as far away as the apartments on Hammond Pond Parkway or as close as the building next door. And, there's no sidewalk on the other side of the so-called pedestrian entrance (C). There is no excuse for not having a sidewalk along a commercial property.

This whole section indicates that NED didn't even try.

Fortunately, this one would be easy to solve: a pedestrian entrance at the point where the street is closest to the sidewalk.