AMHERST — A greenspace and parking area in front of Town Hall will likely be fenced off by mid-to-late September as long-awaited work on the North Common project gets underway.

Town officials recently gave the go-ahead for Caracas Construction of Ludlow to begin the project on the .75-acre site, bounded by Main, Spring and South Pleasant streets and Boltwood Avenue. Last month, Caracas submitted a $1.79 million bid, the lowest of five that came in response to a request for proposal advertised by the town. 

Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek said Tuesday that officials will be working with Caracas on a schedule that makes sense and noted the project will begin after the fall semester at the University of Massachusetts and local colleges has begun. That means traffic will be picking up with the influx of students.

The town will be sensitive to the needs of restaurants and shops that depend on parking, Ziomek said. 

The Main Street parking lot will become the staging area for equipment and materials related to the project.

“We’d like to get as much work done as possible before the snow flies,” Ziomek said.

Ziomek said he has been talking to Business Improvement Disrict Executive Director Gabrielle Gould and Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Claudia Pazmany about the needs of businesses. There also has been direct outreach to the business community.

Part of the work being done by the town has been installing new wayfinding signs directing visitors to parking. Ziomek said there are many spaces that typically go unused in downtown, including at the town-owned lot between North Pleasant and North Prospect streets, behind the CVS Pharmacy.

“We’re doing everything we can to make parking more visible to people,” Ziomek said.

When the project is complete, the 34 parking spaces on Main Street will be removed, but by having Boltwood Avenue one way from Main Street, some parking spaces will be created, and there are plans for restriping spaces elsewhere to pick up more spots.

The final concept for restoring and activating the North Common space, developed by the Department of Public Works, was finalized in 2021 and approved by the Town Council, with support from the business community.  Among improvements will be making the site fully handicapped accessible, honoring the history of the common, safeguarding as many trees as possible and planting new trees, addressing erosion that exposes tree roots and adding adequate lighting. Some of the parking lot asphalt will be turned into a paved and landscaped pedestrian plaza.

Last November, the aging Merry Maple tree was cut down as a first step in the project that could be completed by June 2024. Ziomek said that schedule might be met if the work starts in a month or so.

Town Engineer Jason Skeels recently told the Disability Access Advisory Committee that a preconstruction meeting with Caracas would focus on the availability of the needed materials. “He’s pretty confident he can get 80% of the materials he needs this year so that he could get a solid start going,” Skeels said. 

Much of the early work will be on subsurface aspects, including drainage, with the granite arriving next spring for the decorative seating walls.

Municipal planning for various events, from the flag-raising for Puerto Rican Heritage Month and the Merry Maple celebration, may include using alternate sites, such as Kendrick Park at the north end of downtown or Sweetser Park off Main Street.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>