Concord Streetscape

The ultimate goal of the project was to transform Concord’s Main Street into a ‘Complete Street’ — shifting away from a sole focus on vehicular transportation to simultaneously accommodate pedestrians, drivers, transit users and bicyclists in equal measure. 

One of the most dramatic changes came by reducing the vehicular travel lanes from four to two, which allowed for a considerable widening of the pedestrian sidewalks and immediately improved accessibility to surrounding businesses. Special emphasis was also put on creating public gathering spaces for public art displays, community events, and small pocket parks. 

The resulting improvements will drive increases in local foot traffic and tourism activity, directly enhancing the city’s downtown economic vitality. Our project team also identified additional opportunities for new and local businesses to assist in promoting Main Street as an attractive place to shop, dine, and live.

This progressive streetscape strategy has successfully turned Main Street into an important component of Concord’s open space system, a beautiful common ground for the community, and an attractive destination for visitors to New Hampshire’s capitol city.