Regarding the article “Council signs on to Picture Main Street” (Gazette, Nov. 18), all sides can probably agree that the proposed three-year reconstruction of Main Street would be the largest public works project in the long history of downtown Northampton.
After a series of two-minute public sound bites without response from city authorities, the City Council unanimously “signed on” to a token resolution (R-23-389) “endorsing” Picture Main Street (without detailing which version of that series of plans is referred to). The refusal to hold a City Council public hearing (ideally jointly with the Planning Board) on this massive project suggests that City Hall is circling the wagons, fearful that informed public input may “fan the flames of concern” — as the council president admonished critics at the Nov. 16 council meeting.
The Main Street “redo” proposed by state and city planners looks nice on their computer screens, but it won’t be achieved by magical thinking. No logistical plan has been revealed to prevent this multi-year project from destroying whatever prosperity and vibrancy Main Street is struggling to retain today.
It is baffling why the city continues to shame those who worry about traffic congestion, loss of parking, small business survival, emergency vehicle access, pedestrian and bike safety, tree removal, and snow plowing, not to mention the noise, pollution, and backups due to state highway contractors with their diesel trucks and machinery, along with workforce vehicles taking over downtown Northampton for at least three years.
More than 2,000 people have signed a Change.org petition against the project. Among 100 businesses recently contacted by the Ad Hoc Committee to Save Northampton’s Main Street, 70 oppose the project and only two support it (with the rest uncertain or unavailable). Why is City Hall unwilling to listen to and learn from its own citizens and the wider public on whom Main Street prosperity depends?
Rutherford H. Platt
Florence