Downtown Manchester Improvements Project

We're excited to share a brief recap of the recent engagement activities hosted by the Downtown Manchester Improvements Project team. Here's a quick overview:

Open Houses, Community Presentations, & Digital Engagement

Our team hosted events that brought together residents, business owners, and downtown visitors. These open houses provided opportunities for attendees to ask questions, share feedback, and view the project's plans. We addressed common questions about parking, traffic flow, and the planning process, which are reflected in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of this page. To better engage with our community, we've also updated our project materials, including a brochure and a project poster. These materials are available for download on this page as well.

What's Next?

We've carefully reviewed all the feedback from our in-person events and online interactions, gathering valuable insights on areas of support, concerns, and design ideas. This feedback will guide us as we update the project's concept design over the summer. We'll keep reaching out for your input as we move toward a final design.

Join Us at Community Events

We'll be hosting an outreach table at various community events throughout the summer and early fall. These events will provide project information, address questions, and gather feedback directly from residents. Please note that these engagements won't involve formal presentations but will focus on raising project awareness and fostering community dialogue. See "Summer Outreach Schedule" for specific event details.

Stay Connected

Enjoy your summer, and remember to share our project page with your neighbors. Stay tuned for updates on the project design later this year.

-The Downtown Manchester Improvements Project Team

You're invited to attend the Public Open House for the Downtown Manchester Improvements Project! This event will showcase the exciting concept plans aimed at transforming Main Street into a vibrant "Complete Street," featuring enhancements in traffic and pedestrian safety, new public spaces, and an improved streetscape.

Two PUBLIC Open House Events to take place in the Main Gallery at WORK_SPACE (903 Main Street):

• Thursday, March 7th (9 am - 2 pm) Thursday, March 7th session is being postponed due to unforeseen circumstances and will be rescheduled soon.
• Tuesday, March 12th (2 pm - 7 pm)

Our project team will be available to answer your questions, provide clarity on project details, and address any misconceptions. Whether you're a resident, a downtown visitor, or representing a group, your input is invaluable!

Feel free to reserve an appointment using the provided link or simply drop by during the designated open house hours.

Questions? Contact Emma Petersen at epetersen@manchesterct.gov or call 860-647-3044.

Downtown for All (also known as the Downtown Manchester Improvements Project or Downtown Streetscape Project) is the next phase of the Town’s recent efforts to make Downtown and its adjacent neighborhoods more vibrant places. Manchester considers a strong Downtown one of its very top priorities. This project would -

• Represent a significant investment in Downtown that would benefit the entire community;
• Complete necessary, cyclical maintenance of the Main Street corridor; and
• Address multiple community needs previously identified in various workshops and surveys spanning the past decade.

Details are available in a comprehensive, visual story map here. You may also visit the Town of Manchester website here to view the results from those previous workshops under the section titled “Downtown”.

The project will transform the Main Street corridor between Center Street and Hartford Road into an accessible, vibrant, and equitable "Complete Street" through a comprehensive design that includes traffic and pedestrian/bicycle safety improvements, additional public gathering spaces, and enhanced streetscape complemented with strategic public and private development. Measurable results from this project will include fewer serious vehicular accidents, more short trips taken by bicycle or on foot, slower vehicular speeds, additional outdoor space for local businesses, and additional, accessible public spaces.

“Complete Streets” is a transportation policy and design approach that requires streets to be planned, designed, operated, and maintained to enable safe, convenient, and comfortable travel and access for users of all ages and abilities regardless of their mode of transportation. The Manchester Board of Directors adopted the Town's "Complete Streets Policy" on October 3, 2017.

What Improvements Does the Project Include?

The foundation of this project is a “road diet”, which creates the necessary space for most of the improvements. A “road diet” typically involves converting an existing four-lane, undivided roadway segment to a three-lane segment consisting of two through lanes and a left-turn lane. This reconfiguration of the public right-of-way would then allow for additional public spaces and amenities, including a separated cycle track, outdoor street vending and dining, pocket parks, and other placemaking opportunities. While counter-intuitive, going from four lanes to three actually improves traffic flow in that those taking a left turn now have a dedicated lane. Those behind a turning driver will be able to keep moving instead of having to stop or worse, swerve into the other lane and risk a potential accident. Buffer space has been built in as well to avoid conflicts between moving traffic, parking cars, loading trucks, emergency vehicles, etc. The proposed “road diet” includes on-street parking changes in some areas, but the mix of parallel and diagonal spaces will remain. Importantly, the project is expected to result in no significant change in the number of parking spaces and the current design includes a small net INCREASE in the number of on-street spaces. All these improvements are intended to make Downtown a safer and more accessible place to be for ALL residents, whether they travel by car, foot, public transit, bicycle, or stroller.

A second piece of the project on Main Street could improve the safety of downtown visitors and make for a safer experience driving down Main Street. There are two roundabouts proposed for the “top” (Main St. & Center St.) and “bottom” (Main St. & Charter Oak St./ Hartford Rd.) of the Downtown area. The proposed roundabouts allow for vehicles to travel counterclockwise and a center island to “turn” onto the desired road. Roundabouts can vary in size, but the proposed Manchester roundabouts would be larger than others that exist in the area. They would also be able to allow for vehicles of all sizes, including emergency vehicles, buses, and truck and trailer combinations. Most importantly, roundabouts are designed to slow traffic, making Downtown safer for everyone. Downtown is currently a high accident location and tragically has also seen pedestrians injured and even killed in recent years crossing the street. Slower vehicles significantly improve safety for both vehicles and pedestrians.

The image above is intended to illustrate the differences between roundabouts and rotaries. It is NOT representative of the proposed

roundabouts for Main Street. Please visit the "Guided Tour" section of the project story map for images of the proposed roundabouts.

The third and critical piece of the project is to upgrade the traffic signals in the Downtown so that they are coordinated. Coordinated traffic signals synchronize traffic movements so that cars stop less when traveling. While the first two pieces of the project will intentionally reduce vehicle speeds, the coordinated signals will allow drivers to get from one end of downtown to the other in essentially the same amount of time. Vehicles will move more slowly, but traffic will flow more smoothly with fewer stops and no need to drive around someone taking a left turn. An added benefit here is the lower emissions generated by fewer idling cars.

What is the status of the Downtown Manchester Improvements Project?

The Town is grateful to the State of Connecticut for funding a portion of the project through the Community Investment Fund 2030. Because the project is not fully funded, there is no construction start date scheduled at this time. Further, any construction will not be all at once. The town will coordinate this project closely with Downtown Businesses and events and the project will ultimately enhance our treasured Downtown events. Importantly, current plans have been completed with the guidance and consultation of the Downtown Special Services District, Business owners, and major event personnel. The Town will continue to engage these groups as the project comes closer.

The project team will also continue to provide opportunities for the public to influence the plan in the coming months. At this time, the project is a concept that has been crafted into an initial design, but it will go through multiple design updates before becoming a reality. Staff encourages you to read through this project page, click "subscribe" in the upper right-hand corner of this page under "Stay Informed", and ask questions/ submit ideas using the forum and ideas features. Stay tuned!