master plan update - City of Boca Raton

SECTION BGENERAL RECOMMENDATIONSplanning strategyDuring the planning process, the needto create a better pedestrian networkconnecting Downtown’s various partsemerged as the participants’ top priorityfor this part of the city.This straightforward goal will bedifficult to achieve given the physicalconstraints of Downtown, especially thenorth/south barriers.However, it can be accomplishedwith a collaborative effort among publicagencies, especially those responsiblefor transportation, private developmentinterests, and citizens groups. Theseries of diagrams on this page suggestsa strategy for connectivity which can beaccomplished incrementally. Each publicworks improvement, each individualdevelopment, and each individual propertyimprovement should be done withinthis strategy. In that way, the collectionof individual efforts will result in a unifiedwhole.The sequence illustrates how totransform Downtown from a collectionof separate destinations into an integratedDowntown with a collection ofunique addresses.SEPARATE DESTINATIONSA series of successful but containedand separate destinations exists, withpedestrian-scaled environments withinthem, but without connection to eachother. These include Mizner Park, SanbornSquare, Plaza Real South, parts ofRoyal Palm Plaza, Silver Palm Park, andCamino Real west of Federal Highway.BARRIERSThe design of many streets and lack ofadequate sidewalk areas, together withthe high speed of traffic on some of themajor arterials, cause the street patternto form a series of barriers that preventconnections between destinations.14