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Downtown sidewalks and parking on North Main prompt safety debate; board to send designs to safety committee
Summary
Selectmen and downtown stakeholders debated proposed 4-foot sidewalk placement, angled parking removal and parking redistribution for North Main Street; safety and vehicle-turning clearance were central concerns.
A substantive discussion about North Main Street design, sidewalks and parking filled a large portion of the Oct. 7 Selectmen meeting as staff and residents weighed tradeoffs between pedestrian access and vehicle clearance.
Project staff and members of the design team (part of the municipal paving/shared-streets projects) described a recommendation to build a 4-foot sidewalk on the church side of North Main Street, which would move the sidewalk out and require rethinking angled parking in front of the Adams Block and other diagonal parking spots. Staff said the shared-streets grant and a $100,000 complete-streets allocation had been approved and that staged work is planned into next year.
Opponents said moving the sidewalk and keeping diagonal parking in place could narrow the travel lane so much that larger vehicles—including trucks with trailers—would have difficulty making turns at the School Street/North Main intersection. Several residents and selectmen urged removing the diagonal (angled) parking in front of the Adams Block and converting those stalls to parallel parking to improve sight lines and turning clearance. Town staff asked the safety committee to review the redlined engineering drawings and advise on parking layout and sight lines before final markings are applied during paving.
The board and staff noted alternative mitigation: moving the stone wall back along the church property had been discussed previously but the property owner was not willing to alter the wall; staff reiterated that the town cannot rely on that change and must proceed with designs that work within existing property lines. Selectmen asked project staff to share civil-engineer redline drawings with the safety committee and to arrange a meeting so the committee can recommend parking striping, crosswalk locations and other safety fixes before construction.
No formal vote was taken; the matter will be refined with safety-committee input and Vibram and contractor coordination for spring construction work.
