Portion Road Visioning Update
Mar 01, 2005
The Downtown Lake Ronkonkoma Business District at
Hawkins/Ronkonkoma Avenues
When
the Community met in October 2004 for the Visioning
Meetings there was a lot of interest and discussion
on how to design the new Portion Road so that it
would enhance the Downtown Lake Ronkonkoma Business
District.
The Business District was identified by many as an
important asset to the community, but it was
generally recognized that the area was somewhat tired
and not living up to its true potential. The desire
was to expand and build upon the character of the
shops along Hawkins Avenue and prevent Portion Road
from becoming a wide road that would divide the
community and discourage pedestrians and walking. The
consultants and planners quickly recognized the
potential that the road improvement project had to
actually improve the business district and make the
area more walkable and less car dependent. Together
with the community members they recommend that the
following concepts be pursued and developed
further:
- Extend the look and character of Hawkins Avenue to Portion Road by encouraging the development of storefronts and shops along Portion Road between Ronkonkoma and Hawkins Avenue. Locate the buildings closer to the road, making them two stories high with residential units on the second floor, providing parking in the rear, keeping the roadway width to a minimum, limiting driveway curb cuts and eventually permitting on-street parking. The Civic is currently working with the developers of the vacant site near GreenPoint Bank to ensure that it is developed in a manner consistent with the plan that evolved from the visioning process.
- Handle the heavy traffic in this area by encouraging local traffic to bypass Portion Road, utilizing a new network of local feeder roads that would connect Hawkins and Ronkonkoma Avenues and run parallel to Portion Road. The idea is to allow through traffic to use Portion through the business district in a controlled manner without over-expanding the road and encouraging large amounts of traffic to divert to Portion Road from the LIE and Middle Country Road.
- Develop the intersection of Portion Rd/Hawkins Ave as the site for a Town Square with a major reconfiguration of the northeast corner of the intersection to encourage pedestrian oriented activities.
- Develop a network of trails and walkways to connect the Business District to the many natural resources that are nearby, including the Nature Preserve that is north of Greenpoint Bank, Raynor Park, which is located on Ronkonkoma Avenue and is currently being refurbished, and of course the lake of Lake Ronkonkoma, which has had a glorious past but has been floundering for the past 35 years or so.
- Improve the mass transit resources that already exist in the area but are underutilized and poorly coordinated. Three bus routes cover the Business District and also serve the nearby Ronkonkoma Railroad Station and Smith Haven Mall, but very few people use the buses due to infrequent service, the bad image that buses have and poor coordination with the train schedules. Many residents commented that much of the traffic congestion on Portion Road, Hawkins Avenue and Ronkonkoma Avenue is caused by the large numbers of commuters that drive their car to the station.
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