The Box District will soon host a new Silver Line Station at the northern end of Highland Street, with construction expected to begin later this year or in early 2016. City officials anticipate this development will draw workers and commuters down Highland Street toward the station on a daily basis.
Currently, the walk presents challenges beyond the steep incline and lengthy staircase—much of the corridor suffers from disrepair or lacks visual appeal. Highland Street stands as one of the few unobstructed north-south routes on the city’s densely populated east side, stretching from the waterfront to the train tracks where the new station will eventually open.
With these factors in mind, City planners have developed an integrated strategy to transform the Highland Street corridor into a more attractive, pedestrian-oriented destination that serves as a genuine link between the neighborhoods on either side of the hill.
Planner John DePriest refers to this initiative as the Highland Greenway.
On April 30, the City convened a meeting to present the project details, with construction targeted to commence in July.
The project’s main focus involves restoring Bellingham Hill Park, supplemented by a small passive park planned for 97 Library St. and enhancements to the Highland Stairs. These components will be unified through a greening initiative that connects to the existing Box District Park at the Highland and Gerrish corner, established just two years prior.
According to DePriest, “fblikebutton_button” “We want to make a visual connection to the Greenway but also connect the neighborhood to the new Silver Line Station. We’ve started to design process for Bellingham Hill park, which has to be done by June 30, 2016. We plan to put a new park at 97 Library St. and improve the stairs. In between those areas and down to the Box District Silver Line Station, we’ll make streetscape improvements to create a green corridor. We’ll have more trees and we’ll trim the trees on the stairs. We’ll do crosswalks and better signage.”
Bellingham Hill Park design is scheduled for completion by June, with construction anticipated to start in July and conclude by fall. The park project carries an $800,000 price tag, with a state grant covering half the cost.
Ann Houston, executive director of The Neighborhood Developers (TND), traces the Greenway project’s origins to a 2009 plan her organization helped develop—the Bellingham Hill Action Plan. Given TND’s substantial interests in Highland Street properties and the Box District, the organization welcomes seeing this vision materialize.
Houston expressed her enthusiasm, stating “We’re just delighted it’s now coming into fruition. Highland is such an important corridor. It does connect the Shurtleff-Bellingham neighborhood, but it could definitely use some greening. That would definitely help things. This project is terrific and an important piece in improving this neighborhood and making it a really pleasant place.”
A significant obstacle, identified by Houston and Emily Loomis of TND, involves the stairs’ central position within the plan. Though the stairs represented an earlier improvement, their refinement remains incomplete.
The current project may provide that final chapter.
Loomis observed that “It’s such a challenge there particularly because of it’s grade and the narrow size of the area. I think there is consensus around making it more attractive, clean and safe.”
Houston added, “They are a real challenge. We talked about this a great deal during our action plan. The greatest challenge of them being that they’re pretty steep…I don’t know what the answer is, but there has been some ideas around terracing it for gardening, or even terracing it for resting places.”
This represents only Phase 1 of the broader vision.
Phase 2, according to DePriest, extends across the hill’s opposite side, linking Bellingham Hill Park to the waterfront and ultimately the PORT Park on Marginal Street.
Sidewalk improvements are already underway this spring to advance this phase 2 component.
Details regarding Phase 2’s final form and timeline remain undetermined.
What is clear is that City planners intend to extend beyond the hilltop.
DePriest explained, “The bigger idea is to connect the entire area down to the PORT Park on Marginal Street so that there’s one uniform corridor making it very easy to go back and forth. That, however, will be the subject of a future grant.”