I couldn’t agree more with the Eric Stahlberg’s July 25 guest column “Shuddering over Picture Main Street.” I have also read the FAQ entries about this project on the Northampton city website. I found much of the information there contrary to common sense or downright unbelievable. Expecting that reducing four lanes of traffic to two lanes with a central turning isn’t going to impact traffic congestion strikes me as nonsense. Thinking that parallel parking into those single lanes of traffic won’t add to that congestion is also a bit crazy. And the loss of all the parking spaces is certainly going to impact downtown access. The few traffic bypasses around downtown are limited and already congested. Part of motivation for this project is stated as reducing our dependency on automobiles, in part by allowing more bicycle access. The planners seem to think that more locals will bicycle downtown at night to go to restaurants or do their shopping. I would guess we are also expected to bicycle into town during the winter months as well.
There will certainly be long-term damage to downtown businesses. I would not be surprised to see many business failures not just during construction but afterwards. One point never really addressed is the expectation that there will be decreased restaurant business and perhaps hotel bookings. As the city gets some of its revenue from restaurant and hotel taxes, we should expect to see a reduction in the city financial base.
Knowing that this city government is very unlikely to reduce expenditures, we should expect to see an effort to recover that revenue, and the most obvious available source of that would be property taxes via another Proposition 2½ override. Both Northampton homeowners and business owners will likely see tax rates or assessments increase. As we all know, when property taxation increases, property market values decrease. Waiting for this project to start is like watching a train wreck about to happen and being unable to stop it. Once the Picture Main Street project is in place, it will not be reversible.
Jay Fleitman
Florence