The city of Northampton has asked for residents’ input on a multi-million-dollar redesign of Main Street, a busy road that cuts through the heart of the community’s business district.
Construction of the project, estimated at $8.8 million, would start in 2025. City officials are currently in the early stages of developing designs and collecting feedback from the public about the reconstruction, which seeks to improve driving safety, traffic and the aesthetic of downtown Northampton, according to the city’s website.
So many people showed up to the first public discussion about the project in January that officials decided to create a survey to gather information and opinions about the future redesign ahead of testing of redesign plans in the summer and fall, according to Mayor David Narkewicz’s office.
“Northampton generally tends to be really responsive to those kinds of surveys, whether it’s about parking, panhandling,” Narkewicz told MassLive. “I suspect we’re going to get a lot of really good feedback on that. I definitely think we’re generating a lot of buzz about that process right now.”
The survey, released by the city earlier this month, asks those taking it to rank 21 different “street elements” that may be implemented during a pilot demonstration project. A design team will then test the elements on Main Street between West and Market streets in August and September.
The elements include sidewalk cafe seating, bicycle boxes on the road, markings that direct bicyclists through what are called “conflict zones," high-visibility crosswalks with “zebra” stripes, curb extensions, planters and parklets, small public spaces that have “seating, greenery, shade and bike parking,” according to the survey.
“A demonstration project allows us to test elements of the proposed street redesign on the street using low-cost materials,” the survey says.
Main Street intersects Routes 5, 9, 10 and 66, and it is considered the largest urban center in Hampshire County. City officials said the redesign will impact the entirety of the road from Market Street to the gates of Smith College.
The project aims to add more trees and increase parking, walking space and bike access. Officials also want to connect the north and south sides of Main Street for pedestrians and strengthen alternative forms of transportation in the area.
As part of an effort to increase shared-use transportation paths in Northampton, Narkewicz announced earlier this month that the city was awarded a nearly $80,000 state grant to build a bike access ramp from North Street and Edwards Square to the MassCentral Rail Trail. There is currently no access to the trail for eight-tenths of a mile from the east side of the railroad, Narkewicz said in a statement
The city’s planning and sustainability office will oversee the project and expects to go to bid in the spring, according to the statement.
“This investment will make one of our most densely populated neighborhoods in Northampton more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly,” the statement said. “Just as we did last year, when we opened a new one-mile paved shared-use path from Sandy Hill Road to Burts Pit Road, we want to continue to expand our trail network, our sidewalk network, and provide alternatives to single-occupancy motor vehicles.”
This is not the first time Northampton public officials have looked to improve conditions on Main Street.
In 2011, the city hired a Boston consultant through state funding to identify traffic problems in downtown Northampton and offer solutions. The consultant’s report found several issues similar to those the redesign project seeks to combat today, including excessively wide parts of Main and King streets, narrow sidewalks and limited spaces for bikers.
The report even deemed areas in downtown inhospitable to bicyclists, and the consultants called for more bike racks and connections to the rail trail.
The city is expected to provide detailed specifications on the Main Street redesign project from 2021 to 2022 and finalize a plan from 2023 to 2024, according to the mayor’s office.
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