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Pleasant Street revitalization plans revitalized

By Patrick Adrian
[email protected]
CLAREMONT — Claremont City Councilor Erica Sweetser pointed out that the idea to create a pedestrian plaza in the historic downtown is, in many respects, staying as true to Claremont’s past as its future during a presentation Wednesday night.

Sweetser informed her fellow councilors with a 30-minute presentation on the proposed “Rethink Pleasant Street Revitalization Project,” a $4.5 million renovation that would increase the pedestrian space and reduce vehicle traffic to one direction with the aim to revitalize economic development and social opportunities in the historic city center.

For multiple weeks, Sweetser compiled research for her presentation. During this time she walked around the city and hand-counted parking spaces; conversed with city stakeholders and residents; and studied a tome of records, both historical and current.

Using a historical timeline, Sweetser illustrated that the idea to transform Pleasant Street is not new. In fact, residents have been discussing the need to change Pleasant Street’s traffic for nearly 60 years.

“Very often there is this opinion that Claremont, as a city and government, can be impulsive, not do its homework or think things through,” Sweetser said. “So I decided to look at the history of this idea of changing downtown.”

Concerns over the impact on Pleasant Street by commercial trucks, which frequently use Pleasant Street as a state-approved thruway, date back as early as the 1964 Master Plan, which stated that “truck traffic downtown impeded development” and “identified the best use of the downtown as ‘people oriented,’” according to Sweetser.

A 2009 road study reported that the traffic volume was substantially increasing and would increase further with the growth in Claremont’s industrial zones. The study also found that the vibrations from the traffic is detrimental to the buildings on Pleasant Street and has contributed to their damage and wear, Sweetser said.

“Forty percent of these trucks are pass-thru traffic,” Sweetser said. “They don’t drop anything off in Claremont or pick anything up, and they don’t stop to have lunch. They do not spend money there.”

City discussions around rethinking Pleasant Street have recurred and evolved over the years, Sweetser pointed out. The topic garnered greater attention in the 1973 Master Plan and in 1986 the city had proposed its first alternate truck route, which would have diverted vehicles from the city center to South Street.

In recent years, proponents for the Pleasant Street project are pointing to New Hampshire’s aging population and the need to attract younger people to the community.

Local and national studies show that the amenities and vibrancy of a community’s downtown factors significantly in where young, educated adults today want to live, Sweetser said

Surveys of Claremont residents in 2016 and 2017 found that downtown revitalization drew that most interest from residents as a priority. Seventy percent of surveyed residents on average said they wanted to see an increase in restaurants, arts and culture, as well as more biking and walking initiatives in town.

“Some people think that job growth builds retention, but people don’t stay if they don’t like where they live,” Sweetser said.

About $3.4 million of the project’s total cost would cover the reconstruction of Pleasant Street, including the costs for paving and upgrades to water and sewer lines and storm drainage. About $650,000 would go to streetscape development, such as street lighting and landscaping; $620,000 would go to parking improvements, lighting and signage; and $530,000 would go to building the intersection at Glidden Street and Broad Street as part of the traffic rerouting plan.

Sweetser noted in her presentation that the water and sewer upgrades on Pleasant Street need to be completed regardless of the proposed street renovation. Additionally, the city plans to offset the project’s cost with the retirement next year of three municipal bonds, so that the project should have a zero net impact on the tax rate.

To see a recording of Sweetser’s presentation, you may stream a recording of the city council’s July 22 meeting on the city’s Facebook page or at Claremont Community Television’s website http://www.claremontv.org/.

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