It seems unbelievable that narrowing Main Street will improve downtown businesses. With only one lane of moving traffic each direction with parallel parking, a resulting line of cars will need to stop and wait as a driver tries to parallel park.

Parallel parking is a skill and takes time to complete. Without a lane to drive past this parking car, the entire line of traffic must stop and wait.

During a design feedback session on Zoom, I asked about the impact of the one-lane traffic at each light, knowing that the number of cars that travel this corridor daily is huge. The answer was that “the traffic lights control the flow.” Well, the backup on one lane will be longer than on two lanes. And the number of cars traveling on Main Street has increased decade after decade. That trend will not change.

Locals, like myself, do not run errands on bikes to downtown to purchase items and bike home as most items are bulky, heavy or perishable. Only people who live close by have that ability to get home with perishables on bicycles.

So who will benefit from this design? In other small cities, like Falmouth, locals avoid downtown traffic at all costs. The shops are nice, but with only two lanes with parallel parking on each side, it is slower than slow to get through.

I will be seeking alternative routes around downtown Northampton. I will dine and shop downtown until the 2025 groundbreaking.

PC Gibbs

Florence

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