Northampton approves design exceptions for 2025 paving program to stretch budget and retain neighborhood character

The Northampton City Transportation & Parking Commission on Jan. 21 voted unanimously to approve design exceptions to the city's Complete Streets ordinance for the 2025 paving program, allowing the use of asphalt sidewalks in place of concrete on some streets and the decision not to install sidewalks on several dead-end or steep roadways.

"The streets on this list have not had attention since the 1950s or 1960s," said Donna Lasaglia, director of public works and chair of the commission, describing the list of neighborhood streets slated for a mill-and-overlay. She told the commission the typical mill-and-overlay removes "the top 3 or 4 inches, and you replace it with a fresh coat of asphalt."

The vote clears a package of design exceptions the department presented street by street. The packet lists material exceptions (reconstructing existing asphalt rather than installing concrete), side-of-street exceptions (rebuilding sidewalks on one side only), and no-sidewalk exceptions for constrained dead-end streets and heavily sloped corridors. Terrace Lane was highlighted as an exception that also requires a new water main because of repeated breaks.

Why it matters: Northampton's in-house engineering staff is pursuing a large, compressed paving season to use available funds and contractor capacity. Lasaglia said the city must finalize plans and put projects to bid in February or early March to secure competitive pricing. The city council is scheduled to consider the appropriation for the program the night after the commission meeting.

Commissioners and members of the public pushed the department to include low-cost safety measures where full sidewalks are infeasible. "For some of these wider streets, that's something we can look at," Lasaglia said in response to suggestions such as painted lane narrowing, tightened corner radii and other traffic-calming measures to slow traffic and make streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Planning and sustainability director Carolyn Mich added that the department plans incremental ordinance revisions and further public outreach: "We're still working on the language so that it's more specific to address concerns that were raised previously and also just to... identify the types of situations in which these cases should be considered." Mich also reported that bids for the Rocky Hill Greenway shared-use path drew 12 responsive bidders and that MassDOT will select a contractor to begin work in spring.

Residents who commented at the meeting expressed broad agreement with prioritizing pavement repairs while asking the city to preserve neighborhood character and consider shared-street standards on low-traffic roads. Resident Steven Good told the commission, "A lot of this makes a lot of sense to me," while other commenters asked the city to pursue traffic-calming treatments and clearer public notice about major redesigns such as the Elm Street/high-school project.

The commission emphasized the limits of the mill-and-overlay treatment: a simple mill is not disruptive to buried utilities, Lasaglia said, but installing sidewalks where none exist often triggers extensive drainage, curb and utility work that turns the job into a costly full reconstruction. The department estimated concrete sidewalks cost roughly three times as much as asphalt sidewalks, a factor that reduces how many sidewalks the city can build with current funds.

Votes at a glance: - Approval of minutes (Dec. 17, 2024): Motion to approve carried unanimously, 7-0. - Approval of design exceptions for 2025 paving program (as presented): Motion to approve carried unanimously, 7-0. The exceptions cover material, side-of-street, and no-sidewalk variances for the streets listed in the commission packet and were moved as a package. - Adjournment: Motion to adjourn carried unanimously, 7-0.

Next steps: The department will finalize design details for each street, post plans and continue public outreach. The city council must appropriate funding before construction; some projects (for example, Terrace Lane) will proceed only after utility repairs are completed. The DPW and commissioners said they intend to return in coming months with proposed Complete Streets ordinance language to create clearer pathways for shared-street treatments and other exceptions where appropriate.