WESTBROOK – Along Route 302 near Prides Corner are a few restaurants, convenience stores and businesses, a lot of houses for sale, and not much else to distinguish the area as a neighborhood in Westbrook.

Molly Just, city engineer, said that might change in the next few years as a group of residents and public officials tackle one of the city’s recently completed Comprehensive Plan tasks – revitalizing the Prides Corner sector.

The city is hosting a public meeting on the future of the Prides Corner area on Wednesday, May 22, at 6 p.m., at the Prides Corner Church, 235 Prides St. A light supper will be served.

“It’s a manageable area to plan for in terms of transportation and economic development. We don’t want to see it turn into a real downtown, but just to manage the flow of traffic better and have residents be able to walk across Bridgton Road. We’re looking at ways to manage the traffic and soften the appearance of the area,” Just said.

Just and the rest of the Prides Corner Land Use Study Working Group, made up of real estate agents, business owners, homeowners and city staff, have met a few times in the last couple of months to discuss how to change the area into more of a pedestrian-friendly village, as in Freeport and North Windham, instead of a vehicular corridor transporting people through Westbrook instead of into it.

So far, the vision for the area includes a new roadway with pedestrian crossing, medians to slow down traffic and trees and bushes to make the street feel more inviting. Two- and three-story commercial buildings, grouped in close clusters, would sit along Route 302, while a higher-density residential area would be built up behind the commercial properties.

“Before William Clarke Drive was rebuilt, it was just lanes of traffic moving. People wanted to cross the street and they couldn’t. The medians create pedestrian refuge and trees and grass were added. For those people passing through, it says, ‘Hey, slow down, you’re somewhere,’” Just said.

The area being discussed encompasses Bridgton Road/Route 302, from the Green Flea flea market to La Bella Villa Condominiums and about 2,000 feet on both Brook Street and Pride Street from where they intersect with Route 302.

Nearly half the area is listed as residential properties, although many of those properties are for sale, including one owned by the city councilor for the area, Mike Sanphy.

“The working group said pretty clearly that along Bridgton Road they can’t imagine people wanting to live there anymore. There are a lot of houses for sale in that area,” Just said.

There is also a large chunk of vacant and underdeveloped property in the area, including the old Prides Corner School and Wormell Farm.

‘We had a meeting out there to hear what people wanted to do with the school building. They said they wanted something that wouldn’t impact the neighborhood too much, like elderly housing,” said Sanphy.

“Hopefully with, public participation, we could start within five years,” said Just. “Anything that helps attract more people to Westbrook, that’s a good thing and an exciting thing.”

The city of Westbrook has provided this illustration of concepts that could work together to achieve a better sense of place in Prides Corner. Courtesy image