NORTHAMPTON — Residents and business owners pushed for changes to the city’s chosen redesign for the downtown area at a public forum Thursday night, asking the design team to eliminate angled parking, improve handicapped accessibility and create a continuous canopy of trees along Main Street sidewalks.
More than 120 people attended the fifth public meeting — and final one this year — on the Picture Main Street project, held virtually on Zoom, and described concerns and ideas about the plan dubbed “Alternative 3.”
A major goal of the initiative is to reduce miles traveled by car and to increase other mobility options like walking and biking.
The three-lane Main Street redesign features lanes for both directions of travel and a middle lane for left turns. The design maintains angled parking, expands sidewalks and calls for the installation of dedicated bike lanes.
Project officials said that 1,300 people from 184 communities filled out an online survey presenting four design options, and 70% preferred Alternative 3. Mayor David Narkewicz announced in May that the city would pursue the design.
Alternative 3 reduces on-street parking by 18% while adding vehicle turning lanes at New South/State streets and King/Pleasant streets, and adds green infrastructure downtown. The plan makes room for public art, street furniture, sidewalk dining and outdoor commerce space.
“This is a starting point,” said Lydia Hausle, a transportation planner at Toole Design Group, the consulting company hired to work on the project. “We’re going to be really focusing on design and getting things right and getting things constructable over the next six months.”
A local group known as Main Street for Everyone believes the four design options presented to the community were not good enough. A letter-writing campaign is underway and the group has posted a petition on its website to urge a redesign of Alternative 3 to expand foot traffic and green infrastructure use even further, among other goals.
“Replace all on-street angle parking with parallel parking and target on-street parking primarily for vehicles requiring direct access to Main Street service/loading zones, handicap parking (and) 15-minute parking,” the group recommends on its website. “Angled parking is less safe than parallel parking — over the last decade, there were 37% more crashes in the angled parking sections of Main Street compared to the parallel parking sections.”
Main Street for Everyone has compiled a list of 38 downtown businesses they say are “aligned” with the group’s goals.
“Alternative 3 didn’t take us to the 21st century,” said Lilly Lombard, a member of the group’s steering committee. “We need to shrink our city streets even further to make room for people and trees.”
Tina Ingmann said she has lived in “this Paradise City” for 20 years, and in that time, “the chance to make changes to the city center is rare.”
She said Main Street should have “lots and lots of handicapped parking spots, five minute stops, and loading and unloading only.” A high number of trees are necessary, she said, especially as the climate continues to get “very, very hot.”
Katie Gartner, a 10-year Northampton resident, said Main Street is not just a shopping and leisure destination, but also a juncture of major state highways, and limiting travel lanes will cause delays in people’s commutes.
“Planting trees is obviously a good thing … but does planting trees downtown actually offset all the carbon that’s being emitted by all the traffic that this could cause?” said Gartner, who is worried that workers will face “slow traffic and possibly being late” more often.
She said only about 4% of the city’s population filled out the online survey that showed the supposed popularity of Alternative 3.
Jason DeGray, Boston office director at Toole Design Group, said the public should realize that any canopy of trees would take years to fully come to fruition.
James Winston, a member of the group Keep Main Street Accessible for All, said the city can make Main Street safer with crosswalk speed bumps and pedestrian signage. He said that any design should consider safety when drivers open their doors, and the team should remember that some people have no choice but to drive downtown.
“Not everyone is physically able to walk or bike a distance,” said Winston.
Steven Bandarra said many people with mobility restrictions find angled parking much easier, and may not have handicapped parking placards. He said people recommending more parallel parking for handicapped drivers are well-meaning but seem to misunderstand that community’s needs.
Kristen Sykes, co-owner of Pie in the Sky Berry Farm, thanked the city and the team for picking Alternative 3.
“My customers need safe routes to get to the farm … and many of my customers are families,” said Sykes. She supports parallel parking and bike lanes to increase access to the Northampton Meadows.
The project team wants to have the design 25% complete by the end of the year for submission to the state Department of Transportation. The city expects to receive about $16 million in state and federal funding for the project, and the earliest that construction can begin is Oct. 1, 2024.
The next large community forum, with a public comment period and an opportunity to submit written testimony, is likely to be scheduled for early 2022, said Hausle. In the meantime, the design team will hold smaller meetings with various stakeholders, including business owners and community groups.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.