Dear Northampton neighbors: If you are one of the people asking yourself “Did Northampton really think about this Picture Main Street redesign project?” please take some time to learn about the planning that went into the project. Yes, we did think about it, a lot! Information about the project is available on the city’s website, and I imagine your city councilor would have relevant information to share as well.
The city bent over backwards offering numerous meetings where citizens had the opportunity to learn about and comment on the project. In the end, we were given the opportunity to vote on which of the potential project plans we liked the most. The plan that was the most popular is the plan the city chose to undertake. Yes, there will be challenges for downtown businesses during construction, yes there will be unintended consequences we will have to deal with. But please don’t think this is being forced on us — we learned about the project, and got to vote for which plan we wanted!
Personally, I don’t like everything about the project, and I wish the city would give the plan a test run before construction begins. At the same time, Northampton very much needs to modernize the infrastructure underneath Main Street, and there is grant funding on the line that we need to use in accordance with the project timeline. I’m willing to give our mayor, city councilors, and staff involved with Picture Main Street the benefit of the doubt that they’re doing their level best to bring needed improvements both above and below the downtown section of Main Street.
Yes, many people thought about this project quite a bit. Let’s get construction underway with a positive outlook on the good things it will bring, a commitment to support downtown businesses through the process, and the resolve to address unintended consequences when they’re revealed.
Betsy Powell
Northampton