IMAGINE Main Street

Project Description

Main Street is the central vein of the heart of Nashua’s downtown. The project area is an approximately one (1) mile long corridor extending from the intersection at Amherst Street to the north, down to the intersection at Lake Street to the south. While the project will focus on a redesign of this central streetscape, the scope of planning study and design will incorporate several other active transportation projects as outlined in the Project Location section.

Imagine Main Street will implement a shared community vision for the Main Street Corridor conceptualized in the City’s recently adopted Imagine Nashua Master Plan, culminating in bid-ready design plans prepared for construction. This reimagined corridor includes public-realm expansion, enhanced pedestrian facilities, and will form connections to multi-modal transportation options for some of New Hampshire’s most vulnerable and underserved populations. Through a complete street-oriented reimplementation of Main Street, vital transportation connections will be transformed from vehicle-centric freeways into innovative, accessible, and human-scale community areas.

Project Location

The City of Nashua, with approximately 91,000 residents, is the second-largest city in northern New England. The city shares a southern border with Massachusetts and is located 43 miles north of Boston. Nashua’s Main Street is the central corridor of downtown. The proposed project area begins at the intersection with Amherst Street at the north, to the intersection of Lake Street approximately one mile to the south. The project area is primarily located in areas designated by the DOT as Areas of Persistent Poverty as well as Historically Disadvantaged Communities. The project is located in the Nashua, NH-MA Urbanized Area.

While the primary focus is on this central streetscape, the scope of planning studies and design will incorporate several other active transportation projects on Main Street’s periphery including the following: