GREENFIELD — As the city prepares once again to close Court Square to vehicular traffic for the season, a number of events are on tap for the return of the downtown pedestrian plaza.
“We reviewed feedback from last year’s pilot closure and the overwhelming message was that the community wants more events on Court Square and the (Greenfield) Common,” said Mayor Roxann Wedegartner.
The project also was the subject of a petition by a group of residents who called for the city keep the area open to vehicular traffic last year, however.
Between May and October, local businesses and city departments have events scheduled to take place at the pedestrian plaza, including art activities hosted by the Greenfield Recreation Department and a celebration of Stone Soup Cafe’s 10th anniversary. Cocina Lupita, the El Salvadoran food truck that has been housed within the Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center for the last several months, will also return to its location outside the venue.
The configuration will be similar to last year — when the city closed Court Square to vehicular traffic to pilot the pedestrian plaza — but with additional handicapped parking behind City Hall and more visible signs to guide vehicles through the area and visitors into the building, according to a city press release. The city anticipates the closure to vehicular traffic lasting from May 16 through October.
Movable planters will again be used to close off Court Square between Main Street and Newton Place. Traffic will still be able to access the parking lot behind City Hall from Main Street at Veterans Memorial Mall and from Bank Row by way of Newton Place.
The pilot reconfiguration project was first implemented last year with funding from the state Department of Transportation’s Shared Streets and Spaces Program. Court Square remained closed from June until November, at which point city officials began to review the community feedback they had received.
During the pilot, a group of residents petitioned the city to reverse the closure and reopen the pedestrian plaza to vehicular traffic.
The vote by City Council to not support the petition — which garnered upwards of 300 signatures — followed a conversation during which several expressed their own opinions on the project. Despite several councilors speaking in agreement with petitioners, all but At-Large Councilor Christine Forgey voted against the petition.
With a strong mayoral form of government, Forgey explained at the time, the authority to make the change requested in the petition does not lie with City Council.
Wedegartner said that while some resident feedback included requests for Court Square to remain open to one-way traffic, that wasn’t something the city could accommodate without “costly infrastructure upgrades.”
“In order to properly do one lane of traffic, we would have to literally do a full redesign of how you travel on Court Square,” she said. “To do it temporarily, with the food truck needing and wanting to be where it is — and it being a great asset to the closing off of Court Square for the season — that lane of traffic would have to go right down the middle of the road and would sort of negate the purpose of closing off Court Square.”
The Department of Public Works also expressed concern over using too many cement barriers to create the travel lane. The inclusion of a travel lane, while also keeping the handicapped parking spot, would make for even less room for a vehicle to exit.
“Rather than wallow in a lot of the negativity, we took what we felt was a lot constructive criticism and have made attempts to improve on that,” Wedegartner said.
The decision to move forward with a seasonal closure — which Wedegartner said she expects to be the plan for future summers — also incorporated the findings of the 2020 downtown market analysis by FinePoint Associates, the consulting firm provided to the city through a $90,000 Local Rapid Recovery Plan Program grant.
“Some of the findings were very supportive of this,” Wedegartner said of bringing additional food options and activities to the downtown area. “I want to stress and emphasize the fact that our downtown businesses were really hit hard by COVID. … They are just beginning to come back. They were, most of them — particularly those that are retailers — interested in making sure this seasonal set-up continues in some fashion or another because it creates traffic. Increased traffic … definitely benefits them.”
Wedegartner said inquiries from businesses and groups interested in using the space continues to grow. She noted that to host an event on Court Square, applicants must go through the licensing process with the Board of License Commissioners.
The Jersey barriers, she added, were recently painted to improve the overall look of the pedestrian plaza.
“This is just for the seasonal application of it,” she emphasized. “This is, once again, not something we’re doing permanently.”
■Saturdays, weekly: Greenfield Farmers Market.
■May 18: “The Common Series” art activities, hosted by the Greenfield Recreation Department.
■May 21: Bee Fest.
■June 4: Greenfield Community College Day.
■June 12: Stone Soup Cafe’s 10th anniversary.
■June 15: “The Common Series” art activities hosted by the Greenfield Recreation Department.
■Aug. 27: 16th annual Harvest Supper.
■Sept. 24 to Sept. 25: Vintage Days.
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne