The recent Guest Column, “Picture Main Street’s unanswered funding questions” left me disappointed and exasperated. The news that additional costs are needed to implement the redo of Northampton’s downtown has provided this group of contrarians another opportunity to obstruct a multi-year planning process to revitalize our city’s downtown.
I have been actively involved in this project from its beginning. Every issue the authors rehash, including traffic lanes, loss of parking spaces and trees have been discussed in detail at previous well-attended community meetings. And importantly, the Main Street re-design has been changed to address these concerns.
After many years of planning our city is on the threshold of a once in a 100-year infrastructure investment. Our new Main Street will be lined with beautiful trees, wide sidewalks and public spaces. It will be safer for pedestrians and people on bikes and in cars. This is no time for cynicism and divisiveness. It’s time to come together and move forward.
Michael Di Pasquale
Northampton