Work has begun to transform the heart of downtown Havre de Grace into a pedestrian-friendly, “Chesapeake Colonial” town with wider sidewalks, new trees, brick roadways and parallel street parking. Last week trees that once lined downtown streets were removed to kick off the restoration process. Next month, Mayor Bill Martin said the sidewalks will be dug up and the water lines will be replaced.
“We hope to have the sidewalks replaced in mid-October to early November,” Martin said. “We are going to do everything we can to lay down plywood and keep walkable areas so people can access shops.” Martin anticipates the restoration to be completed by May, and said his goal is to minimally affect businesses.
He hopes businesses would only need to close for a day or two due to construction. The work is part of a downtown restoration plan introduced by city officials in 2022 and followed by months of public meetings, community input sessions and interviews with stakeholders. Hundreds of residents participated in the input process that led to the vision of Havre de Grace being a walkable, amenity-rich, waterfront social hub for residents, visitors and businesses.
“This is the vision of the majority of the people,” Martin said. “The real emphasis on this is letting the citizens have pride in their downtown and feeling like they belong to something special because Havre de Grace is amazing.” The project will use a portion of the $13.
8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds the town received from the federal government to replace critical infrastructure. The funds were distributed nationally to help with recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. Infrastructure replacements include water lines, electric and sewer lines.
Since the repairs and replacements require the town to dig up popular downtown streets such as St. John and Washington streets, project officials are calling the restoration plan a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to improve the city. “The oldest pipes and sewer lines in the city are St.
John Street and Washington Street — they are from the Roosevelt administration, and I am not talking about Franklin, I mean Teddy,” Martin said. “Once we replace the infrastructure and put the roads back together, I thought, let’s make it special.” Through community engagement, project planners with Toole Design — a street engineering and design firm hired by Havre de Grace — found Washington Street to be the “beating heart of downtown.
” Washington Street is one of the main streets for First Friday celebrations, parades and is home to dozens of popular stores and businesses. Washington Street currently has a row of slanted parking spaces, which the plan has slated for removal. The restoration plan stated that in order for Washington Street to achieve its highest potential, the slanted parking must be turned into parallel parking to allow sidewalk expansion.
Sidewalks along Washington Street will also be curbless to allow people of all ages and abilities to traverse the downtown area with ease. Sidewalks along St. John Street will be expanded and offer on-street parallel parking.
Project officials called St. John Street a “true main street” and said it should offer visual and physical access to the Susquehanna River. Festive lighting and lush trees will be added to enhance the pedestrian experience, and vertical curbs will be maintained to keep a “classic look.
” Sidewalks on Green Street will be widened as on-street parking is retained. Pennington Avenue, referred to as the “civic spine” of Havre de Grace, connects the library, STAR Centre, visitor center and more. Project plans for Pennington Avenue place an emphasis on walking and a need for art, history and storytelling along the avenue’s sidewalk.
The design includes wider sidewalks and a small public park on the eastern tip of the street. “Residents and visitors will no longer feel that the six-block walk is a barrier to accessing downtown,” says the project proposal. Connecting Washington, St.
John and Green streets, the Rochambeau Plaza was identified as an ideal location for “shared space” — space that pedestrians, vehicles and cyclists can use legally with little visual or physical separation. The plaza will have trees, outdoor dining, benches, play structures and more. “The plan is to change the current conventionally designed intersection into a barrier-free shared space to increase safety, improve the identity and charm of downtown and better support retailing and social exchange,” the project plans state.
The elimination of slanted parking on Washington Street, according to the project plans, will mean a loss of 71 spots, going from 188 spaces to 117. In an effort to regain some parking, Martin said Congress Avenue will be turned into a one-way street — creating 22 parallel parking spots. The transition from slanted parking to parallel parking stems from studies of similar tourist towns and cities across the country, Martin said.
He noted that all of them used parallel street parking as a means to maximize space for pedestrians. Project plans show that within a two-minute walk from the center of downtown Havre de Grace, there are 270 public parking spaces; within a five-minute walk, there are more than 1,000 public parking spaces. The town launched “Ride the Tide Trolley” in July 2022, a free, electric trolley that runs on weekends to help with parking access.
The trolley visits all of the key parking areas in town as well as landmarks and popular locations. Trees on downtown streets will be placed in raised brick flower beds. The tree species will be hardy and native to the area and should last 50 to 75 years, according to Martin.
“No one wants the trees replaced more than me because they make the downtown beautiful,” Martin said. New LED streetlights that can hold floral baskets and flags will be added throughout downtown as well as outdoor speakers and overhead lighting. All downtown streets will be transformed from asphalt to brick pavers as an addition to the Chesapeake Colonial theme.
All curbless streets will have “runoff valleys” which are V-shaped sections between roadways and sidewalks that channel rainwater. “Our ultimate goal is to capture a Chesapeake Bay Colonial look — which is what our city once was — but with 21st century intelligence and how we deal with runoff and stormwater,” Martin said. A view of street improvement work in progress by Rochambeau Plaza in Havre de Grace on Thursday.
(Brian Krista/staff photo) A safety cone marks the stump of a tree removed as part of the street improvement work in progress on Washington Street in Havre de Grace on Thursday. (Brian Krista/staff photo) A view of street improvement work in progress by Rochambeau Plaza in Havre de Grace on Thursday. (Brian Krista/staff photo) A view of street improvement work in progress on Washington Street in Havre de Grace on Thursday.
(Brian Krista/staff photo) A view of street improvement work in progress by Rochambeau Plaza in Havre de Grace on Thursday. (Brian Krista/staff photo) A view of street improvement work in progress on Washington Street in Havre de Grace on Thursday. (Brian Krista/staff photo) A view of street improvement work in progress by Rochambeau Plaza in Havre de Grace on Thursday.
(Brian Krista/staff photo) A view of street improvement work in progress on Washington Street in Havre de Grace on Thursday. (Brian Krista/staff photo) A view of street improvement work in progress by Rochambeau Plaza in Havre de Grace on Thursday. (Brian Krista/staff photo) A view of street improvement work in progress by Rochambeau Plaza in Havre de Grace on Thursday.
(Brian Krista/staff photo) A view of street improvement work in progress on Washington Street in Havre de Grace on Thursday. (Brian Krista/staff photo) A safety cone marks the stump of a tree removed as part of the street improvement work in progress on Washington Street in Havre de Grace on Thursday. (Brian Krista/staff photo) A view of street improvement work in progress on Washington Street in Havre de Grace on Thursday.
(Brian Krista/staff photo) A view of street improvement work in progress by Rochambeau Plaza in Havre de Grace on Thursday. (Brian Krista/staff photo).
