NORTHAMPTON — A project to remake Northampton’s downtown Main Street will not begin construction for at least another year, much to the delight of the project’s critics, who want the city to reevaluate the planned design.

Northampton Planning & Sustainability Director Carolyn Misch said that the estimated start date of late 2025 would have been when the state Department of Transportation, which is funding the project, put the project out to bid. Misch added that 2026 had always been considered by the city as a likely possibility for the start of construction, which is expected to last about three years.

“We were probably over-optimistic that it could start in 2025,” Misch said. “We had put the placeholder for fall 2025, just so people wouldn’t be surprised in case it had started during that time.”

The project, titled Picture Main Street, has been touted by city officials and Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra as a way to modernize and improve the walkability of Main Street, expanding the sidewalks and adding separate bike lanes while reducing the number and size of lanes in both directions and eliminating a number of parking spaces.

But not everyone is enamored of the plans, with several downtown businesses wary about how the disruptive construction could affect their bottom line.

In January, a local group called Save Paradise City, which has expressed concerns regarding the project’s design, met with the mayor along with a representative from MassDOT to express various concerns about the project’s design, including what they believe are risks to disabled pedestrians in crossing the bike lanes. But the group is not necessarily opposed to the project itself, its leaders said.

“We see this as probably the biggest construction project, maybe, in the history of Northampton,” said Anne Teschner, a group member who attended the meeting. “We want to make sure it’s done right. We want it to be incredibly successful.”

At that meeting, the group asked that the project be delayed for one year to give “time to make the project a safer and better design that the whole city can get behind.” Teschner said that Sciarra informed them at the meeting that the city had no plans to make drastic alterations to the design.

But Teschner said the group was “thrilled” to see the extended timeline for a later construction date.

“It will give us the chance, us meaning the whole community, to really dig into the project,” Teschner said. “Through no fault of anyone except stupid COVID, lots of the kind of regular big community discussions didn’t happen. They only happened on Zoom. ... I really do think it gives us a great opportunity to have community discussions, detailed community discussions.”

Misch acknowledged that the design for the project was not completely finalized.

“We’re not totally finished with the design just yet,” she said. “We’re taking time to make sure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed. But everything is still moving forward.”

In a statement to the Gazette, Sciarra maintained the city was committed to its design plans.

“The city has held more than 25 public meetings, along with many additional individual discussions to answer questions and concerns and to gather input,” Sciarra stated. “As the project moves into its advanced stages, preparing to mobilize by 2026, the city remains focused on the approved design.”

In addition to redesigning Main Street above the surface, the project also calls for replacing sewer, water and stormwater infrastructure, currently more than 100 years old. The city has also launched an initiative in March, titled “Pardon Our Progress,” working with consultants to help mitigate the effects on downtown businesses during the construction period.

The project’s cost was originally estimated at around $21 million, but has since increased to $29 million, with Misch attributing the rise to factoring in inflation. Though recent actions at the federal level have led to questions around funding for various projects, Misch said the city was confident it would not affect Picture Main Street.

“Transportation projects are nonpartisan,” Misch said. “We are optimistic those aren’t going to be targeted.”

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.