New bike paths, walkways part of Main Street upgrades

Last Spring, the university was gearing up to renovate the remaining part of Main Street not improved by recent construction.  The plans were put on hold, however, as a funding opportunity presented itself to the university.  Now, as the new funding is about to become available, the project is mere weeks from officially starting. 

The planned renovations, which seek to upgrade the Main Street corridor that extends from the Field House to Mast Road, will include continuous biking paths, a pedestrian walkway that will lead straight to the West Edge Parking Lot and improved lighting conditions for those who walk at night, according to Steve Pesci, special projects director at UNH’s Campus Planning and Development department.  

“This project is lucky enough to be benefiting from stimulus funding,” said Pesci.  “In the past six months, we’ve changed the schedule and funding of the project.  The concept of the project has remained the same.”

As the university planned to begin work on the project this past spring, an opportunity to make use of $722,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) presented itself.  This was an opportunity that Campus Planning could not pass up.

“For the town and the university, this delay works out for the better,” said Pesci.  “If we had pushed ahead on this project… we would have gotten less money and gotten less done.  So this is one time when delays are a good thing.”

The project is about to receive bids from local development agencies.  In order to receive and use the ARRA funding, the university must have the project contracted to one of the anticipated bidders by the middle of November.  Otherwise, the funding disappears. 

“We have been working like dogs on this one in order to have the project contracted by Nov. 15,” said Pesci.

The existing stretch of Main Street represents a run of New Hampshire road forgotten by the state after a bypass for Route 4 was built in the 60s to bring the state highway to its present location.  In the past decade and a half, a series of projects have sought to accomplish what the Main Street West project will ultimately complete.

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