JESSICA ROBICHAUD

For my fifth year thesis I looked at Forest Avenue in Portland Maine.  Forest Avenue is located north of the peninsula that makes up a majority of  Portland's population and north of Interstate 295 that serves as an artery between Forest Avenue and City Center

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The average person will walk a quarter mile or about 5 minutes before they will seek transport or not bother going according to Home from Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler.  The Forest Avenue corridor from i-295 to Woodford's Corner is a seven tenths of a mile stretch where pedestrians are all but missing.  The Corridor has a rich history catering to vehicle activity with its wide streets, repair shops and gas stations.  This richness could be enhanced with the addition of people walking and staying on Forest Avenue.  I would like to make Forest Avenue a walkable destination by providing the missing link or links that will allow pedestrians and vehicles to share the space.  (Excerpt from Thesis Statement).

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This project looked at redesigning Forest Avenue so pedestrians and bicycles were the major players.  In doing so I came to the realization that in order for Forest Avenue to become a walkable and pedestrian and bicycle friendly street that a multimodal gathering space and parking garage was needed.  The drawings and models represent my solution to Forest Avenue at an urban scale, a site scale and at a building scale.