Radnor Township has a 144-page plan for downtown Wayne that runs through 2036. Only one of its ideas has a budget, an approval vote and an opening season. That idea is Wayne Commons, a small park planned for 24 spaces of the North Wayne Avenue municipal lot. The rest of the plan is mostly concepts that may take years. Wayne Commons could be built by spring, and it could also be called off before then.

If you're in Villanova, Wayne is probably where you go for dinner, a book or a quick errand, and that is the main street this plan is about.

What the township actually approved

The Board of Commissioners approved Phase 1 of Wayne Commons at its September 14 meeting with a proposed budget of $155,000. The township's October 7 announcement says the 24-space strip next to North Wayne Avenue will become a level public park. It will have decorative planters, public seating, entry signage and retractable safety bollards, and Radnor calls it "an outdoor living room." Groundbreaking is planned for late winter, with a ribbon cutting in spring 2027.

The draft master plan sizes the spot at about 7,500 square feet. It describes the space as shaded seating, outdoor dining, flexible open space and room for small performances or markets. The township also lists a Phase 2 that would add permanent structures, utility work, stormwater management and green infrastructure.

So why vote on the park before anything else? Township Manager Bill White explained it to SAVVY Main Line: "A few commissioners didn't want to wait years and years." Projects like wider sidewalks, bike lanes and lighting, he said, "will take years to get from recommendations on a piece of paper to actually designing and building." The parklet was split off from the plan so it could move faster.

The October 12 meeting

The vote that drew the crowd was on the master plan, "A Vision for Wayne." Public comment ended up focused almost entirely on the parklet.

SAVVY Main Line reported that Chris Todd of Christopher's, a longtime Wayne Business Association leader, opened public comment. He read a WBA letter backed by a petition with more than 200 signatures, at least 30 of them from Wayne business owners. The letter did not oppose a park outright:

"We do support the beautification and redesign of the space for public events, but feel that it will cause more problems than it is worth to have this blocked to traffic and parking when not in use."

The WBA's request was specific. Keep the lot open for parking except during scheduled events, and give merchants a seat at the planning table.

Several shop owners raised the same practical concern. Some customers can't walk far, and the North Wayne lot is the closest parking to the stores across the street. David Mackey of the Philadelphia Print Shop on West Lancaster Avenue brought his own schematic. It showed room for 20 to 24 new spaces on the south side of West Lancaster and a footpath linking Lancaster Avenue to the West Avenue lot.

The park had a supporter too. A Wayne resident who is also a WBA member pointed out that North Wayne has 10 to 12 restaurants, so the lost spaces work out to "one or two spots per restaurant." He also noted that the WBA never held a general vote on the issue.

Adam Tecza, the plan's chief consultant, cited the public input behind it: two open houses that drew 190 people and a survey with 373 responses. On parking, he said: "You have available parking… It's just not always easy to find."

"Accept" is not "adopt"

Commissioners then voted unanimously to accept the plan. Main Line Media News reports that the township manager called acceptance the step needed to collect a $100,000 state planning grant. Actual projects will go through more public engagement. White told SAVVY he doesn't want the plan "confused as something that is… a completely baked cake coming out of the oven, ready to eat." According to SAVVY, Commissioner Moira Mulroney said the full plan would not have passed if it had been put to an approval vote.

That leaves the rest of the plan as a set of ideas the township can draw on. Wayne Commons is different because it has its own September resolution. Even so, it isn't locked in:

1. Staff have their orders. White says commissioners directed staff to design Wayne Commons and put it out to bid.
2. Bids could come in high. White named that as one way the project could stall, and said "the commissioners could tell us to stop at any point."
3. Reversing it is simple. Radnor Solicitor John Rice told SAVVY the board would only need a new resolution superseding the September 14 one.
4. The board has changed course before. In early September, commissioners dropped plans to put a district court on South Wayne Avenue after public pressure.

Between now and the planned late-winter groundbreaking, the design and the bid will be decided, and the board could still revisit the idea.

Where the parking actually is

The plan's consultant says downtown Wayne has enough parking and the problem is finding it. The township says Wayne Commons repurposes 24 spaces out of more than 300 municipal spaces downtown.

Radnor says the West Avenue lot takes payment at the kiosk or through ParkMobile, and you enter your license plate instead of a space number. The township's October update says the West Avenue and South Wayne lots both use pay-by-plate and ParkMobile.

The West Avenue lot is about a year old. The 108 spaces it added are more than four times the 24 the park would take. Mackey's proposed footpath from Lancaster Avenue to that lot gets at what Tecza described: the spaces exist, but the walk from them to the shops isn't obvious.

The longer projects behind the parklet

Next to Wayne Commons, the other big ideas in the plan show how long most of this will take.

Lancaster Avenue. The draft calls for studying traffic calming and a possible road diet. The four-lane section would become three lanes, with one through lane each way plus turn lanes. It also recommends easing cut-through traffic on Midland Avenue and on St. Davids Road and Windermere Avenue. It is a study recommendation, with no design or date attached.

The Radnor Trail. The plan suggests dedicated bike connections between the trail and downtown, plus wayfinding signs along the trail. It does not name a route or a schedule.

The Anthony Wayne Theater. The plan lists one-time public support of $50,000 to $250,000 as a possible implementation cost, which is an estimate in the plan and not a commitment. In an August interview with SAVVY Main Line, Executive Director Jennifer Carlson described a multi-arts venue with new-release and repertory films, live performances and education programs. The nonprofit's fundraising goal is $15 million, and about 20 percent had been raised at that point. It wants at least 80 percent secured before setting a groundbreaking date, and it hopes to have something significant open by 2028.

Of these four projects, only the parklet has a budget and a season. The theater's best case is 2028, and the road diet and trail link don't have dates yet.

Two new restaurants a few blocks away

Lancaster Avenue has two restaurant projects in the works. Both are still on their way.

The Inquirer reported in late August that Old Friend, a live-fire American grill at 166 E. Lancaster Ave. in the Apartments at Wayne Station, was under construction as an 86-seat restaurant aiming for a late-fall opening. It comes from first-time restaurateurs Larry Kagan and Chas McFeely, with Sam Henzy as chef. The story did not give an opening day.

Martini & Roz, a 300-seat Southern Italian restaurant from Fearless Restaurants, is moving into the former Bertucci's at 523 W. Lancaster Ave. DELCO Today reported in August that it was listed for a fall opening with no exact date. The restaurant's own site still says "coming soon."

Neither opening is on North Wayne Avenue, but both bring more diners downtown. The township's case for Wayne Commons is that a plaza keeps visitors downtown longer and sends foot traffic to local storefronts and restaurants. The merchants' concern is about where those same visitors will park.

Wayne Commons will be designed and bid over the winter, and any change of course would need a new board resolution. Radnor says it will post construction updates on its website and social media. If you'd like to know how changes on North Wayne Avenue and Lancaster Avenue could affect homes within walking distance of downtown Wayne, the Tallon & Olenik Team is happy to talk it through. Ask us for your home valuation.