Upgrade Coming to Downtown Concord

Safety and economic development improvements will be coming to Main Street in Downtown Concord.

After two and half hours of testimony, the Concord City Council approved the project on June 6, by a 14-1 vote. The lone “no” vote was Ward 1 City Council Elizabeth Blanchard.

The project will include moving from four lanes to two lanes with widened sidewalks on both sides of the street. Angled parking will be on the eastern side of Main Street while parallel parking will be on the west. This will allow for the elimination of the two steps walkup on the west side.

According to the plan, $2.5 million will be spent to bury utility lines from the Concord Food Co-op to Thompson Street. The plan will also allow for the hiring of a public relations firm to help downtown merchants promote their businesses during the construction phase and a bidding process for snow melting system that will heat the sidewalks and streets.

Most of the councilors spoke about the need to improve the downtown.

Some, like Ward 2 Councilor Jennifer Kretovic, said despite the point made about parking problems downtown, councilors has to look at the bigger economic picture. Ward 5 Councilor Rob Werner said the city had developed “a truly transformative plan” while At-Large Councilor Dan St. Hilaire said it was one of the most “transparent and open projects” the councilor had ever put together. At-Large Councilor Mark Coen said many communities across the country were investing in their downtowns and this, he hoped, would foster upper story development of the buildings, bringing more people downtown which will attract more stores to the area.

Blanchard said she was voting against the project because the city was making a commitment to spend millions without knowing how to pay for the project. She added that taxpayers were already shouldering “a tremendous property tax burden” while downtown merchants “held on by their fingernails.” Blanchard also said the city had no backup plan if grant money fell through and called the process “back-asswards.”

Both Ward 8 Councilor Dick Patten and Ward 7 Councilor Keith Nyhan agreed with Blanchard’s worries about the finances but said the positives outweighed the concerns.

Mayor Jim Bouley called it one of the most scrutinized project he had every seen but said citizens needed to be motivated by courage and not fear.

“Downtown is the heart of the city and everyone wants a healthy heart,” he said. 

Public testimony

The comments ran the gamut from store and property owners downtown both for and against the project, younger professionals and newer families to the city also supporting the project, and older residents and people concerned that more time was needed speaking out against the project.

Most of the people who spoke in favor of the plan, wanted the council to stand by the initial proposal put forward by an advisory committee, including a number of the committee members.

Shannon Rogers, whose family moved to Concord two weeks ago said her main motivation was the downtown project and the philosophy of attracting younger adults to the city.

“We’re enjoying the local businesses and look forward to the project coming to fruition,” she said.

Mike Cashion said he and other young entrepreneurs were taking a chance by opening and expanding businesses downtown during a bad economy but that the reconstruction was a “huge opportunity” for the city, while Althea Barton called on the council to approve the plan and suggested that shoppers use the parking that was available, even if it meant walking a couple of blocks to the downtown.

But others worried that the plan was a recipe for catastrophe.

State Rep. Rick Watrous, D-Concord, said he thought approval of the plan would be “a huge mistake,” adding that moving from four to two lanes would “make it a crawl through Concord” that people would avoid. He added that the city wasn’t properly maintaining Eagle Square or other areas.

Roy Schweiker spoke against parts of the project, including the buried utilities comparing it to “burying $20 bills” since it offered no economic benefit. He said the city was spending too much on downtown while starving neighborhoods. He suggested that the widened sidewalks were being “cluttered up with junk” like trees, benches, and pocket parks, which would mean there could be “less space to walk on.” Schweiker also claimed that the city was not paying off bonds properly which allowed officials to create “a secret slush fund” for development projects instead of allowing property to be put back on the tax rolls so everyone’s taxes could be lowered. 

Allan Herschlag was critical of the fact that the original Re-Thinking Main Street plan, the impetus of the Complete Streets grant application, never had a public hearing in the first place in 2011 which essentially made the entire thing a done deal when the federal grant money was approved for the project. He said designers never took the time to look at alternative ideas that might really make the project work, with officials disrespectfully challenging anyone who offered any ideas to test out changes to downtown before spending millions on constructing the project. Herschlag added that “the same type of abuse” was given to ideas back before the grant was even applied for.

Robert Baker challenged the mantra and focus of parking noting that the city had been building parking garages and lots since the 1950s and people were still complaining about the downtown and the lack of parking. He said the plan failed to actually be a Complete Streets project, which requires multi-modal transportation options, adding that it wasn’t safe for bicyclists downtown. Baker said the federal money was like “a half-off coupon,” but since the plan was rushed, didn’t have a finance plan, and wouldn’t make biking safer on the Main Street, it should be rejected.

Downtown merchants also sounded off about the plan.

Karen Page of Flagworks said that customers tell her all the time that the larges problem with downtown is the lack of parking, not lack of shade trees or widened sidewalks. Here husband, Patrick Page, spoke later in the evening and emphasized the parking problem again.

Sue McCoo, the owner of Viking House, mentioned that one of her customers told her earlier in the day that they circled the block 12 times and were unable to find a parking space.

Jim Rosenberg, a local attorney, said he thought the plan would improve downtown and appreciated that concerns he had about Low Avenue being cut off from Main Street were addressed.

Merrimack County Savings Bank Vice President Rebecca Lougee said she was disappointed that the crosswalk outside of its North Main Street location was being removed.

Michael Herrmann of Gibson’s Bookstore said his store was making “a huge personal bet on the downtown” and the city should too.