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Hespeler Road | Cambridge
#1
Hespeler Road
A thread to discuss urban design related matters for one of the Region's most infamous commercial corridors

[Image: hdNo2xyn.jpg]
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#2
New buildings to be closer to Hespeler Road
June 16, 2014 | Bill Jackson | Cambridge Times

Quote:CAMBRIDGE – A new office building at the southwest corner of Hespeler Road and Eagle Street might stand out to passing motorists because of its close proximity to the road, however, that’s going to become the norm along Cambridge’s main artery.  

“Part of the whole concept and vision for Hespeler Road is trying to get it more urban with a pedestrian streetscape, which means the buildings will be fronting closer to the road, with parking in the back,” said Hardy Bromberg, the city’s commissioner of planning development.

The new building, which was initially reported to be a convenience store, is now slated to become a dentist office, Bromberg said, adding it is essentially the first building starting the new vision of Hespeler Road.

A new aBRT (adapted bus rapid transit) stop has been incorporated in the design, in-keeping with urban guidelines outlined in the region-approved official plan…
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#3
Contrary to what most merchants think, Hespeler Road is a commercial disaster. Think about the negligible percentage of the total traffic which goes by that stops and goes into a store. By pushing the store fronts to the road and making people walk past a few store fronts one can easily increase the number of purchases per passerby by a factor of 3x.
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#4
Here's an example of what Hespeler Rd. could look like, serving at the same time as a thoroughfare and an avenue with human dimensions:

[Image: diagonal-_bcn.jpg]

This is the famous Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona, Spain.
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#5
I took a ride to Sail today. I would go so far to say that all of Cambridge is a commercial disaster. All the roads leading from that area that are dead ends, go no where, etc... all I want to find is the 401 and I am trapped in strip mall / dollar store hell.

I mention this here because, of course, I have to access Hespeler Rd to get to Holiday Inn Drive (note, I did not see a Holiday Inn).
_____________________________________
I used to be the mayor of sim city. I know what I am talking about.
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#6
Holiday Inn is just past the Zehrs on the right side. The 401 is rather hard to miss, though the south side connects to it far better than the north side.

New zoning and streetscaping along Hespeler Road will only be lipstick on a pig as long as it's crammed with 18-wheelers. The commercial traffic has to be diverted elsewhere. I drive on it as little as possible; Conestoga Boulevard and Industrial Road are the best way to go.
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#7
I'm glad the zoning is changing, but DHLawrence is indeed right.

It'll be interesting to see if any incentives are used to encourage mixed use development sooner rather than later.
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#8
Doug Craig seems to at least be open to the idea. He said that light rail will only be of use to Cambridge "when Hespeler Road is lined with skyscrapers". It's certainly the best place to go wild with intensification; will anything along the road be missed?

The owners of Cambridge Centre are probably in the best position to kick-start redevelopment; build parking structures behind The Bay and Target, convert the laneway in front to a proper road, and start building mixed use on the parking lots out front. It has the added benefit of making the distance between the future ION stop and the mall feel smaller.

The next best place to redevelop is the east side between Dunbar and Can-Amera; there are already a number of vacancies, and I'm sure the flea market tenants can find new homes.

The west side of Hespeler Road has something the east side cannot offer: it backs onto a creek. Though this is currently a drawback to development because it makes that entire side a floodplain, it is also a potential linear park between Pinebush and Dumfries Park. That will be a fantastic selling point when marketing condos and apartments.
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