When Main Street also serves as a state highway, communities are faced with significant challenges. The biggest challenge is to strike a balance between the needs of pedestrians, shoppers, employees, business owners, and residents with the needs of through traffic – both auto and freight – to move safely and efficiently over longer distances.
Main streets that are also state highways are found throughout Oregon: from small, rural ranch downtowns to segments of large cities. Some of these main streets have kept their historic character, with a classic, small town, “Mayberry USA” appearance that is typified by a mix of uses and multi-story buildings fronting a wide sidewalk. Other main streets may have lost much of their historic appearance to strip development, parking lots, and expansion of multi-lane highways.
Whatever the character of your main street, this handbook recognizes that good highways and main streets are both critical to the health of the state’s communities. It describes the many tools available to identify the problems and figure out good solutions for Main Street…when a highway runs through it.
Source: Main Street…when a highway runs through it: A Handbook for Oregon Communities
Published: November 1999
