NORTHAMPTON — They lined up out the door of 180 Main St. Wednesday afternoon — supporters, skeptics and the simply curious — all eager for a look at final design plans for the long-planned and controversial $43.3 million downtown redesign known as Picture Main Street.
Following the submission of 100% design guidelines for the project to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) earlier this month, engineers and designers from Toole Design joined members of the city’s Department of Planning & Sustainability and the Mayor’s Office to host a community “pop-out,” where they presented renderings and answered questions in an informal, three-hour setting.
“The goals of the project, which have been established now for a number of years, still remain. The project is primarily to address safety for all users of the roadway [and to] ensure an enduring streetscape — the feel, the street, and the vibrancy and economic development of downtown,” said Jason DeGray, Toole Design’s regional director of operations for the Northeast. “Today we’re really just rolling out, helping people start to get comfortable with the plans, to be able to ask questions. We’re pivoting toward a construction mindset, so we have to get folks prepared for what’s coming.”
Construction, beginning with water and sewer infrastructure upgrades under the roadway, is expected to begin in the spring of 2028. Completion is estimated for completion after four construction seasons.
The project aims to widen the sidewalk on both sides of Main Street between Bridge and Elm streets, narrowing the roadway from four lanes to two. It features bike lanes, tree plots and public spaces with dedicated turn lanes in the center of the road.
Since Picture Main Street’s inception, it has drawn controversy. Supporters praise it as an infrastructure upgrade that will improve pedestrian safety and revitalize the city’s downtown, while opponents raise concerns that the project is too costly, could lead to more traffic congestion and could hurt businesses.
Submitting final design plans is a significant development for the project. The city first began submitting plans to MassDOT in 2021. Those plans were nearing completion late last year, but needed last-minute revisions after it was discovered that Eversource utility lines were incorrectly installed. That prompted the need for further utility testing, which occurred earlier this year.
Residents attending Wednesday’s pop-up event asked a variety of questions ranging from street lights to sidewalks, bicycle lanes, open space and parking.
Bonnie Nickerson, Toole Design’s Northeast director of planning, noted that the narrower streets, elongated sidewalks and small stretches of trees and public spaces along both sides of the street are expected to enhance civic space along the Main Street corridor.
She added that plans also seek to enhance street lighting by replacing the current cobra head lighting with a more “historic” style along the portion of Main Street spanning from the intersection of Hawley Street to Crafts Avenue.
Other design elements, such as adding defined travel lanes and a flush median in the center of the road that will serve as a turn lane, also aim to make the downtown corridor safer to navigate for cyclists and pedestrians, Nickerson said.
“When we widen out the sidewalks, we’re adding a lot of public space to the project and a lot of amenities like rain gardens, adding gathering spaces, benches, other seating. It’s just going to really invite people to participate in downtown in a different way,” Nickerson said. “No matter who you are, how you get around downtown, we’re all pedestrians … we’re making sure that every aspect of traversing Main Street is going to be enhanced for safety.”
Nickerson also explained that Toole incorporated a mixture of diagonal and parallel on-street parking into the project, responding to feedback from many residents who expressed concerns about transitioning from the street’s current diagonal parking to parallel parking.
Opinions vary
Residents expressed diverse opinions on the project, with some voicing excitement for a renovated streetscape, and others, such as resident Bob Walker, raising concerns about the cost, the length of the construction period and perceived negative impacts on parking and traffic safety.
“I’m just nervous because suppose it gets built and then there’s a huge traffic jam. What happens when it’s too late?” Walker said, noting that he appreciates the city’s effort to make the downtown corridor more pedestrian-friendly. “I’m concerned that the traffic studies were done during the COVID shutdown when no cars were on the streets. There’s a lot more housing being added to the central business area now … we’re putting a lot more residents downtown, and I think it’s going to contribute to parking issues and congestion.”
Walker is referring to several large projects that have either been approved or are in the planning stages, including a 91-unit affordable housing complex at the former Registry of Deeds site on King Street and a six-story, 30-unit building on Crafts Avenue behind City Hall.
Hampshire Pride Founder Clay Pearson said he generally supports the project, though he dreaded the construction’s potential impact on next year’s Pride parade. Still, he said the plans, in his opinion, were “going in the right direction,” and that the LGBTQ community is “resilient and will find a way to make the parade happen” regardless.
Others have voiced concern about how the construction will impact businesses. In response, the city has partnered with the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Northampton Association to create an organization called POP: Pardon Our Progress. This initiative is working to help businesses navigate the construction phase.
John DiBartolo, a Northampton resident who works as a personal injury attorney, said he is concerned that a project designed for pedestrian and cyclist safety might backfire and make Main Street less safe. He argued that narrowing Main Street would increase the density of vehicles on the roadway and provide fewer gaps for drivers turning left from Old South Street.
“My biggest safety concern is the position of the bike lanes — having them between the parked cars and the sidewalk makes it such that if somebody were to pull out here, they would have to pull out across the bike lane to see around the parked cars,” DiBartolo said. “If you’re driving and you have to take a right-hand turn onto one of the side streets, the cyclists are going to be coming from behind a row of parked cars over your shoulder.”
Still, numerous residents, including Robert Boulrice, voiced praise and excitement for the project, noting that he was involved in Cambridge’s similar “Envision Cambridge” redesign project.
“I appreciate how difficult it is for cities to do capital improvements, and so I’m delighted to see that this one is now at the 100% phase, and it’s going to do so much for the community, not just for me, but for the kids,” Boulrice said. “The two overarching needs, which are safety and help to the business, are kept [with these plans]. That’s what it’s all about — visitors need to feel safe and businesses need to be supported. That, to me, is the essence of the plan.”
Planning & Sustainability Director Carolyn Misch said similar design presentations on Picture Main Street are expected in the fall.
Misch said in an interview Thursday that while she heard a wide range of questions and comments from the public, some centered around the project’s tree placement and impact on snow removal and cyclist safety, she thought the feedback she received was generally positive and constructive.
“Overwhelmingly, we had a lot of positive response from folks, and then of course there were people that had concerns, maybe skepticism, and then there were definitely people who are decidedly not in favor of making the modifications for whatever reason,” Misch said. “Still, overwhelmingly, there was support and real excitement once people were able to see what Main Street would look like at the end of the construction.”
