Guest columnist Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra: ‘Human-centered’ Main St. will ensure downtown thrives

‘Picture Main Street” is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redesign downtown Northampton with $19 million in state and federal funds. We will address the critical needs of safety, accessibility, vibrancy, and climate resiliency. We will help our beloved local businesses survive the existential threat of online retail. We will preserve what we all love about small-city life — the kind of life that drew so many of us to Northampton or convinced us to never move away.

And when I say “we,” I mean it literally. Northampton residents on volunteer committees led the development of the city’s Transportation, Streetscape, and Sustainable Northampton plans. With dozens of public meetings and forums over two decades and City Council approvals, the policies and plans they developed laid the foundation for Picture Main Street.

Over the last six years, the Main Street redesign has been on at least 63 public meeting agendas. Officials conducted three community surveys, convened nine public forums, and held dedicated business and stakeholder meetings.

In 2021, four design options — developed in collaboration with Toole Design, a woman-owned engineering, planning and design firm with 20 years of experience — were presented to the public. After incorporating community input, city and state officials finalized the plan. (One of my first mayoral acts was preserving a section of angled parking in response to feedback from the disability and business communities.) Construction is slated to begin in 2025.

The complementary components of the redesign work together to address a wide range of urgent needs.

As the Gazette reported, according to Massachusetts Department of Transportation data, “Main Street made the top 5% of crash clusters in the state for pedestrian and bicycle accidents.” This is dangerous for Northampton residents and our many visitors, which is why Picture Main Street is a high priority for local, state and federal officials.

Main Street’s confusing layout contributes to crashes. This will be fixed with one consistent travel lane on each side through the length of Main Street. A middle third lane for turning will be added. The number of vehicles on upper Main Street is less than on lower Main Street, where there are already two lanes, and is well under the 20,000 vehicles-per-day threshold for three-lane roads.

Additionally, all nine crosswalks across Main Street will be narrowed. For example, the rainbow crosswalk will be reduced from 90 to 41 feet. This will decrease traffic exposure and increase safety for pedestrians, rollers, and bikers.