OAK STREET PARKING LOT EXISTING CONDITIONS & SUMMARY ANALYSIS

Assets

• Visitors are able to park in this lot even when the gates into the rest of the park are closed to cars for several hours each morning: until 10 am weekdays, and noon on weekends.

• Groups use the lawn to gather on before venturing into the park. People also picnic and hang out here, enjoying the waterfront views.

• A wide swale hugs the parking lot edge, catching much of the stormwater from the lot.

Challenges

• Currently, all park users enter the park on the 24’ wide two-way road whether they are in car, on bike, on foot, or using another movement device, creating a confusing and potentially unsafe entry experience.

• When the gate into the rest of the park is closed and the lot fills up, people park on both sides of the entry drive, creating congestion and raising the concern that if an emergency vehicle needed to enter it may not fit.

• The lawn is heavily compacted and stretches all the way to the water’s edge, providing minimal erosion protection to the shoreline and offering limited water’s edge habitat.

KEY FEATURES

Widened swaths of wetland vegetation line the shore

Waterfront picnic areas along path

All persons trails wind through the site

Vegetated swale collects runoff from parking lot

Shade-tolerant understory

Solar panels over parking stalls provide shade and energy

Pervious parking spaces infiltrate water from parking lot

PARKING: Parking capacity stays the same

PROS

• Maximizes green infrastructure

• Stabilizes shoreline with native plants

• Supports wildlife with addition of native plant understory and shoreline

CONS

• Lacks large gathering spaces

• Parking quantity stays the same

KEY FEATURES

Pebble beaches provide access to the waterfront

Accessible picnic areas around the lawn provide gathering spaces for groups of different sizes

Vegetated swale collects runoff from the parking lot

All persons trails lead to all destinations on the site

Separated lanes for pedestrians, bikes, and cars welcome all users into the park safely

A parking lot with about 1/3 more spaces increases parking capacity at this prime location

A speed table at the end of the entry drive slows traffic

Accessible picnic shelter and natural play area offer gathering space for people of all ages and abilities

PARKING: Parking increases by approximately 12 spots

PROS

• Increases parking capacity by approximately 1/3

• Complete streets approach improves safety along roads

• Variety of universally accessible gathering spaces

CONS

• More impervious surface means more runoff

• Access to waterfront may raise ecological or safety concerns

REVISED DESIGN: OAK STREET PARKING LOT

Parking, gathering, and ecological functioning are uplifted in this design which takes a complete streets approach to roads and adds solar panels to an expanded parking lot. This design creates a welcoming experience for visitors complete with amenities that help them get oriented and learn about the history of D.W. Field Park.

Complete streets approach is applied to the entrance, providing separate, elevated bikelanes on either side of two way, narrowed car lanes. Pedestrians now have a separate path into the park, leading northwest away from the road.

A new welcome center sits on an existing concrete slab with portapotties nearby for public use. A history garden introduces visitors to plants and materials found elsewhere in the park, along with signs about D.W. Field and the park’s history.

The existing parking lot is expanded to accommodate 54 vehicles. Porous pavers are used in parking spots, and PV’s cover the central island, guiding rain into a bioswale.

The existing swale is expanded and heavily planted, adding habitat and creating a lush barrier between the recreational area and parking lot. Small bridges traverse the swales, connecting to accessible paths between the Oak Street sidewalk and the waterfront. Sediment forebays may be necessary at swale inlets to preserve the feature’s ability to infiltrate runoff.

Visitors can lay out blankets and kick a soccer ball around on this sunny, reduced lawn area. Seeding in low-mow turf alternatives may help improve soil health, and reduce pollution from gas-powered mowers.

A meandering path along a new vegetated buffer includes picnic areas with views of Upper Porter Pond. These spaces offer visual but not physical access to the pond, and the buffer may deter some waterfowl from approaching the shoreline.

Exercise groups now have a meeting spot, complete with benches and a stretching station.

Strengths

• Parking capacity is expanded

• Turf lawn areas are reduced in area, reducing mowing and associated pollution from gas-powered tools

• Vegetation provides habitat and shoreline stabilization while decreasing potentially unsafe water access

Potential Drawbacks

• Expanded parking will likely require the removal of trees which could increase runoff, though the swale provides pretreatment

• Establishing the vegetated buffer may be difficult if people continue to try to access the shoreline and trample plants

A kiosk with maps and park information orients newcomers as they exit the parking lot. Those ready to move directly into the park from the parking lot can travel along a 5’ path separated from the road by a wide vegetated swale. A low-mow meadow replaces turf along the western edge of the path.