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CIRCULATION & PARK USE
The legacy of the park’s original design as a place for pleasure driving impacts the safety of people on the roads in the park and the number of non-car-centric gathering spaces available.
Park Uses
• Fishing
• Picnicking
• Walking
• Jogging
• Biking
• Bird-watching
• Driving
Parking
Events Hosted At The Park
• Tower Fest
• Kids Road Races
• Exercise Groups
• Movie Nights
Brockton Reservoir
There are five formal parking areas for cars in this section of the park. Despite the multiple parking lots, the client core team is concerned about capacity. Not all of the parking areas are used equally, and there are places where people park informally either because of a lack of formal parking where they would like to gather, or because the designated parking area fills up during peak use.
Though not part of the scope of this project, exploring the potential to re-distribute parking to the most strategic locations in the park will likely be an important part of the larger master planning process.
Gathering Spaces
There are several spaces in this section of the park for people to gather outside of their cars:
• The Oak Street Parking Lot lawn area is a popular spot for picnicking.
• The Tower has several benches and chairs where people like to sit and look over the golf course.
• The Tower Hill Parking Lot has a grassy island with three picnic tables that is used for Kids Road Races and TowerFest.
• The Beach on Waldo Lake is a popular place to enjoy waterfront views and observe or feed the waterfowl.
• People often fish off of the Causeway and the small spit of land just north of the Beach on Waldo Lake.
SHARING THE ROAD: CIRCULATION INSIDE THE PARK
The roads in the park were originally designed as a twoway driving loop. They have since been turned into a one-way loop to make room for non-car users: cars drive on the right side of the road while pedestrians and others use the left. There is no physical separation or boundary between the two lanes, and few signs alert new parkgoers to the arrangement.
While the shared-use road is a way to make the roads in the park open to a wider array of users, the lack of clear separation can make people feel unsafe on the roads, especially families with young children.
The client would like to explore strategies for making the pedestrian and cyclist experience safer throughout the park.
