Residents Criticize Daniel Street Project

The promise of wide historic brick sidewalks lined with period lamp posts and trees did not garner the support that city Public Works Department officials had anticipated during Tuesday night’s public information session at City Hall.

Several city residents were concerned that if the city removes 18 inches of current street width between Daniel Street and the Thomas J. McIntyre Federal Building, it would create a log jam of traffic, especially given the number of people who often double park to go in and out of the U.S. Post Office.

Other residents said they didn’t like the city trying to change one of its last true waterfront neighborhoods.

“Are we going to save any part of the waterfront?” asked Harold Whitehouse.

He also said brick sidewalks would retain more ice during the winter and cause people to slip in front of businesses like John’s Barbershop.

John Russo, the owner of John's Barbershop, said he didn’t want a tree in front of his business.

“I think we should have a say about what happens in front of our businesses,” Russo said.

Other residents like Louise Richardson urged the Public Works Department to wait until it knows exactly how many new businesses and residential units will be added in the new State Street developments and the former Connie Bean center before any decisions are made about how many existing parking spaces have to be cut to accommodate the wider sidewalks.

Project Manager David Desfosses of the Public Works Department explained the overall plan would not change the streets in shape or function. He said the area where Daniel Street meets Market Square would decrease by two feet so a bigger sidewalk could be created in front of Breaking New Grounds.

New period lights similar to the ones that were installed on State Street have already been ordered for Daniel Street and they will arrive in seven weeks, he said. The cost of the project is $500,000.

He said a new handicap access ramp would be installed in front of TJ’s Bar, but the city would not make any improvements in front of the Thomas J. McIntyre Building because the future disposition of that property from the federal government to the City of Portsmouth is still being determined.

He said five new trees and six period lights would be placed down Daniel Street across from the federal building. The work is scheduled to begin in April and be completed by June. Desfosses said the first thing that will happen in the next two weeks is the gas company will come and install a new gas line on Daniel Street.

He said there is some water work that needs to be done to connect the water main by Chapel Street to State Street, but there is no water main work happening up and down the rest of Daniel Street to Market Square. “Other than that, this project is about bricks, curbing and street lights,” he said.

Desfosses said he has worked for the city for 14 years and has served as the project manager for improvement projects on Congress, Market, Ceres and State streets along with Market Square.

After another resident asked if they would be able to get in and out of the driveways during the construction period, Steve Parkinson, director of the city’s Public Works Department, assured them that would be the case 99 percent of the time.

“It’s very important to us that the people who live there and the businesses there have access over the course of this project,” he said.  

Defosses said the process to do the Daniel Street improvement project would be much easier than the State Street project, which required extensive sewer upgrades.

“I’m anticipating this whole things, soup to nuts, will be done in seven weeks,” he said.