Fwd: Temporary Downtown Redesign

[dwf0705]

Hello all

We should let kern Foster know how important it is to allow the new downtown bike lanes experiment play it out through November. i encourage the NCC Board to write an editorial to the Gazette/Advocate and Republican.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Karen Foster <foster.k...@gmail.com>

Subject: Temporary Downtown Redesign

Date: September 13, 2020 at 8:45:01 PM EDT

To: round-hill group <round...@googlegroups.com>

Reply-To: foster.k...@gmail.com

Hello, all!  I'm so glad a number of folks reached out to me regarding this issue.  I wanted to share my response and my reasons behind it.  I always encourage you to share your thoughts, questions, concerns with me at:  kfo...@northamptonma.gov.  (For context for those I haven't had a chance to meet yet, I'm the Ward 2 City Councilor, which includes the Round Hill neighborhood)

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Personally, I loved the changes to Main St. and am sorry to see them go. The last few weeks I rode my bike through town numerous times just because I could safely - usually I avoid Main St. on my bike whenever possible. I believe strongly in a vision of a more walkable and bikeable downtown.  It's one of the aspects of Northampton that I love most and working to improve accessibility for cyclists, pedestrians, and wheelchair users was a driving factor in my choosing to run for City Council.

But as a City Councilor, I was alarmed to hear from so many business owners who felt that the changes were having a negative impact on their business (55+ businesses reached out with serious concerns).  Our downtown businesses are so important to our community. They are doing everything possible to hang on through this pandemic, and many of them felt that they could not wait and see or wait for data to determine the impact of the temporary redesign.

The temporary redesign was grant-funded from Mass DOT and was intended to last until mid-November.  Recordings from both the August town hall discussion and last week's town hall discussion with the Mayor are available to be viewed here:  https://northamptonma.gov/2190/Shared-Streets-Spaces

I do believe that sometimes strong leadership is a willingness to change course when the moment demands it.  I reached out to the Mayor after his announcement about undoing most of the changes with my support.  I encourage the city to work with restaurants to maintain space for outdoor dining for those restaurants who request it, and the Mayor assured me that is something the City remains committed to.

The changes were planned to last until mid November.  While this temporary redesign will not last for the intended time period, I do look forward to our bigger and longer term discussions and plans for a Main St that is safer and more welcoming to pedestrians and cyclists and that supports our downtown business community.  We'll get there, in time, with a process that allows for the necessary buy-in from stakeholders.  You can learn more about the long term plans here:  https://www.northamptonma.gov/2015/Main-St-design

I encourage people to reach out to me at kfo...@northamptonma.gov to share your thoughts and with questions and concerns.

Thank you,

Karen

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