Portion Road Visioning Update
May 01, 2005
The Proposed “High-Point Town Center” on Portion
Road
As
reported in March, it will be relatively easy to
implement the visioning plan to develop and enhance
the main Lake Ronkonkoma Business District near
Hawkins Avenue. That area has many of the
characteristics of a traditional village shopping
district and the revitalization plan will be
straightforward.
However, it will be considerably more challenging to
develop the details and implementation plan for the
second Town Center area that the visioning team
proposed for Portion Road between Hans Boulevard and
Cenacle Road. That area has been “victimized” over
the last 25 years or so by typical suburban sprawl
development that has failed to create the “sense of
place” that many at the visioning meetings said was
essential to a successful community. Currently the
north side of Portion Road consists of a series four
separate shopping centers that do not relate well to
each other. The three centers to the east (The Movie
Theatre, Sears Hardware, and Waldbaums) are
physically connected to each other but are still
perceived as three separate driving destinations that
discourage people from walking between them. The
fourth center, the new Stop and Shop, was designed to
be connected to the other centers, but legal
disagreements have prevented the connector road from
being completed. The Blockbuster shopping center on
the south side of Portion Road is a little better
because it was built closer to the road and the
parking in front is not as vast and barren as the
parking lot on the north side of the road. Portion
Road is very wide in this area, and crossing for
pedestrians is perceived as unsafe and undesirable.
But despite the shortcomings of the physical design
of these shopping centers by today’s smart growth
standards, the area was recognized as an important
shopping area that the community needs and depends
on. The following improvements have been proposed to
make the area better and transition it into a true
Town Center:
- Redesign the vast parking area in front of the north side shopping centers to create a Village Green effect with extensive landscaping and pedestrian amenities, including landscaped strips to divide the parking into more manageable areas.
- Provide low-speed local access roads through the shopping centers to handle local trips that would otherwise have to travel on Portion Road.
- Provide direct pedestrian access, and possibly car access, between the Waldbaums shopping center and the Senior Complex behind the shopping center to encourage walking and reduce the amount of car trips on Portion Road. This is especially important for the elderly and disabled residents of the apartments.
- Develop a Community Park with a 9/11 Memorial in the wooded area opposite the movie theatre. This is the highest elevation along the road, hence the name High-Point.
- Minimize the width of Portion Road through the area and provide medians with attractive landscaping so that pedestrians feel safe and comfortable crossing at the signalized intersections, especially at Smith/Cenacle where several vehicular turning movements make crossing very challenging.
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