Now that North Main Street is all shiny and new, you’re probably curious as to what the deal is for South Main Street.
We’re glad you asked – we were also kinda wondering when that area of downtown was going to get an upgrade. It’s looking a little behind the times compared with its neighbor to the north, if you smell what we’re stepping in.
Well, the plan is to tackle that side of Main Street starting in the spring. It’s slated to take the entire construction season, which means once it’s nice enough to start, whether it be late March or early April, crews will be out there until probably November. While the hope is not to take the entire spring, summer and fall to complete the overhaul, the goal is to be done by Veterans Day weekend like they were this year – minus the inevitable few odds and ends, of course. As well as the unpredictable.
“We wouldn’t be surprised if we found something that wasn’t planned for underground,” said Carlos Baia, Concord’s deputy city manager for development. “That’s not uncommon for projects like this.”
The scope of the second phase of the Concord Main Street project goes from the Pleasant Street intersection to the Capitol Center for the Arts, which is just beyond Gibson’s Bookstore and across from the Smile Building/Theatre Street. The original thought was to continue down South Main to where it meets Storrs Street, but that was changed during the design phase after considering the right place for a transitional area, cost to the city and zoning as you move further down the street.
The city council “thought it was a logical place to stop,” Baia said.
And the overall goal of the project?
“We wanted to improve safety and improve accessibility,” said City Engineer Ed Roberge.
So once the weather clears in the spring (which we hope is the earliest on record) the project will get going.
“If the weather is good, our goal would be to start around the same time next year,” Roberge said.
The construction flow will be similar to North Main Street. The east side of the road will be dug up and put back together first and then the west side will get done. So yes, we will have a few months of being able to drive only one way and a few more the other way. Just watch for the signs and cones to know for sure.
“We know construction is inconvenient so we want to make as bearable as possible,” Baia said. “And it seemed to work really well.”
The end result will hopefully have a nice flow with the north side – if everything goes to plan. There will be only one lane of traffic each way, going from four, 10½-foot lanes to two lanes that are 15 feet across.
The sidewalks will span anywhere from 10 to 18 feet, compared to the seven to 10 foot wide ones that currently line South Main. There’s going to be bumpouts for the brick crosswalks and a cobblestone strip down the middle. And all those shiny new lamp posts, benches, trash/recycling bins, along with trees and planters will also be installed on the South Main Street side.
The overall cost of the project, which whether you’re aware of or not is actually considered one project just spread out over two years, is $10.6 million with about 40 percent of that being dedicated to the South Main Street phase. Without a large area to contend with like the one in front of City Plaza, the cost of materials and labor won’t be as much.
“The south end has different characteristics than the north end,” Baia said.
Been when it comes to the distance of area revitalized, both phases are about 1,300 feet long.
There’s a proposed bumpout in front of the Cap Center that might have a musical effect involved and wider sidewalks for the area in front of the Smile and Love Your Neighbor buildings.
“We’ve got a variety of architectural elements planned,” Roberge said.
And there will actually be more parking on South Main then there currently is.
“Just because of the way we created additional angled parking,” Roberge said.
When spring rolled around last year, the good people of Concord had been well informed of the project (with around 70 public meetings) but still had to wait and see what the construction would look like. Now you know what to expect.
“They got to see it in action,” Baia said.
The city will also continue to use Louis Karno & Co. to spread the word about updates and schedules.
“We found the communication process was a godsend,” Baia said.
And if you’re curious as to when the last time Main Street was redone, you have to go back to the 80s when a large sewer project took place. And before that there were initiatives in the early 1950s and the mid 1970s.
“It’s been 20 to 30 years between major renovations,” Roberge said.
We just hope they bring back the free parking initiative from this summer. It was so nice to save 75 cents each time we went for an interview.
That’s a lot of extra tacos to eat over the course of a summer.
