Coming up tomorrow night, the Lower East Side Business Improvement District will present its plan for the redesign of Orchard Street before the transportation committee of Community Board 3. The proposal is the culmination of a community visioning process, which included a public workshop last February and a neighborhood survey.
The idea is to improve safety as well as quality of life along the entire stretch of Orchard, from Canal Street to East Houston Street. In general, the plan calls for new trees and plantings, curb cuts at intersections to provide more space for pedestrians, new seating, spaces for bike parking and reconfigured truck loading and automobile parking. No parking spaces will be lost as part of the redesign; in fact a few additional parking spots will be added.
The BID worked with a local architectural firm, Pilot Projects, on the block-by-block reimagining of Orchard Street. A scale model was prepared to help focus the community conversations. It was used during last winter’s visioning meeting and has been hanging on the wall of the BID’s office during the past few months.
CB3’s transportation panel meets tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. at Grand Street Settlement, 80 Pitt St.
Good news.