West End Business Association Minutes March 2019 PHASE ONE: Islington Corridor Improvement Plan The project has been out to bid and is in the process of finalizing a contract with Severino Construction. The City has worked with them well in the past and is looking forward to this new partnership. You can read the entire project here. Phase One of the project begins at the 1 Bypass bridge and travels down Islington to Albany Street. This is a major project replacing all of the sewer, water, and drainage underneath the roadways and to every single building in the corridor. Some of these utilities haven’t been replaced in nearly 100 years and should last the entire summer. You will see the workers coming to your building or stretch of the corridor several times as each of these utilities is at a different depth and must be repaired in succession (deepest first). Following the utility work comings curbing, paving, sidewalks, street lights, and proposed improvements. Because of the complexity of the project, there will be a one-way traffic pattern traveling West on Islington Street and diverting traffic coming from Route 33 down Middle Street during the day. This will allow the project to proceed more quickly and improve vehicular flow. The streets will be two-way overnight and the project requires paving the surfaces every Friday night for the weekends. According to vehicular studies, most traffic in the West End comes west on Islington from the downtown area to West End businesses. The goal of this configuration is to keep the flow of the majority of traffic to local businesses and residences and to divert the lighter flow around the project. Please stay tuned for a pre-construction meeting with the City in April. More questions and concerns? The City will have a representative at each of our monthly meetings until completion of the project. RESIDENT PARKING WEST END: We submitted an opinion on the proposed parking changes to the City Councillors. We had support from some and push back from others. The overall consensus was that the project will have a very difficult time reaching the tipping point to get to actual testing. |
Present: |
Nancy Carmer, Economic Development Director: City of Portsmouth Eric Eby, Parking and Transportation Engineer: City of Portsmouth Dave Desfosses, Construction Project Manager: City of Portsmouth Sara Curry, Blaze Yoga & Pilates Steve Mailhot, Dogland Connie Freiemuth, Pontine Theatre Bob Marchewka, Brick and Barn/One Commercial Real Estate Scott Rome, Brick and Barn Real Estate Janet Bagley, Visuluxe Jeanne Russell, Portsmouth Center for Yoga and the Arts/Music Together Catherine Markovsky, FLOTE Catherine Stewart, New Hampshire Theater Project Josiah Babcock, Inhouse Digital Doug Pinciaro, Mill Pond Development/Play All Day Doggie Daycare Michael Fratalia, Coastal Atlantic Management Jonathan Blakeslee, White Heron Tea, Coffee & Records Monique Shevlin, Signature Title & Escrow Katherine Plouffe, Gateway Taiji Douglas Robertson, Connections Peer Support Center Cathy Dutch, Greengard Center for Autism John Nash, WSCA/Portsmouth Community Radio Joann Burchick, LIghthouse Physical Therapy Jeffrey Hoerth, Sanford Institute for Savings Sean MacDonald, Rocketfuel Only Screenprinting Terry Desmarais, City of Portsmouth: City Engineer |