Portsmouth council hears Market Square master‑plan concepts focused on sidewalks, parking and flexible outdoor dining

Portsmouth City Manager Connor opened the Jan. 6 work session by saying the Market Square Master Plan effort is being driven by imminent infrastructure work and is an opportunity to rethink the streetscape while underground pipes are replaced.

Eric Galley, a landscape architect and planner with Beta Group, told the Portsmouth City Council the study is intended to “coalesce a vision that would guide future improvements” rather than deliver construction drawings. Galley and Jeff Max, a transportation planner with Beta Group, summarized ten months of public outreach including farmers‑market booths, two public workshops, an online survey and a working group; consultants said common priorities from that outreach were wider sidewalks, more public seating, better lighting and options to support outdoor dining while preserving Market Square’s historic character.

The consultants presented three concept families for Congress Street, Pleasant Street, Penhollow Street and adjacent corridors. One Congress Street option reduces the corridor from three lanes to two while repurposing…