North Woodward 'Needs' Include Parking, Pedestrian Safety, Assessibility

The north Woodward Avenue Corridor has needs.

On Monday, the Downtown Development Authority held an open house at the to discuss them.

DDA Director Cristina Sheppard-Decius said some of north Woodward's needs include accessibility for automobiles and people, connectivity with Ferndale's core downtown, parking and pedestrian safety issues.

"We want to define the dynamic for this section of Woodward," Sheppard-Decius said.

Sheppard-Decius said this section of Woodward needs to be more accessible and connected to the rest of downtown. "It needs more shopper friendly-oriented businesses to locate here, niche-oriented business that make Ferndale and north Woodward a destination spot," she said.

She said there are gaps north of the core of downtown up to the Pleasant Ridge border that need filling.

"Getting a restaurant here -- a sit-down restaurant -- to fill the gap and get residents to walk north along Woodward would improve (connectivity)," Sheppard-Decius said.

"We want it to feel connected with the core of downtown, want it to be a place where residents feel they can walk to from downtown and from the neighborhoods," she said.

Increasing pedestrian safety projects is also something the DDA wants to work on. Most immediately, this could mean another cross walk along north Woodward.

Potential mass transit developments will also play a roll in the future of north Woodward, Sheppard-Decius said. No one knows exactly what will happen along Woodward and exactly how it will affect traffic along Woodward— both automobile and pedestrian. Studies and research is currently being done on the subject.

Parking isn't just a problem downtown. Sheppard-Decius said there are a lot of private parking lots along north Woodward and she would like to see them consolidate to make parking easier for those coming to Ferndale or going to the establishments in that area. "We'd like to see more public/private partnerships with the parking lots here," she said. "We need to find better ways to utilize the lots that are already here."

Sheppard-Decius also discussed the vacant lot between Cambourne and Lewiston. It's the most visible vacancy in the section of Woodward. Ferndale's downtown vacancy rate is under five percent, Sheppard-Decius said. She said north Woodward's vacancy rate is less than 10 percent.

She said the economy has played the biggest role in keeping that space vacant.

Read about the DDA's other visioning open houses about and about the .