NORTHAMPTON, MA(WGGB/WSHM) - For a small business owner, “construction” is a scary word, but “$37 million construction” is even scarier. With the project cost jumping by $10 million and the start date pushed back because of misplaced gas lines, business owners in Northampton are feeling left in the dark.

Some business owners are worried that the plan to “improve” the street— by taking away parking and adding bike lanes might drive customers away. They are asking for a “trial run” to see if the new design actually works before the city spends millions of dollars on a permanent change that could permanently hurt their shops.

“It’s just in my view in ill-conceived project. I think that something does need to be done on Main Street, but I don’t think this is the right thing and I’m worried for businesses. A three-year minimum completion time is not conducive to good mental health,” Herrell’s Ice Cream has been a staple in downtown Northampton.

Owner Judy Herrell told Western Mass News that she worries the Main Street Project would put every small business on Main Street, including her own, in jeopardy. Especially since parking is already a huge issue in the downtown area.

“Employee parking employees are already struggling to find parking and it’s you know, customers complain and yeah, you can go in the main garage, but you know even if you’re a senior citizen and you’re disabled to your family. Lots of kids going into the garage and then walking up to Main Street can be a problem can be especially for seniors and disabled people. It’s far for them to walk in a lot of cases,” Herrell said.

Not to mention Herrell feels the plan as it stands is unsafe, and that narrowing Main Street will only lead to more issues, “putting a bicycle path on the sidewalk and people that are parallel parking means that they’re not going to be seen when you’re making a right turn. It also means that people have to cross over a bike path to get to the sidewalk. There is the trail one block off of Main Street, so that runs parallel so it just seems like this might not be the best idea you know city government has ever had.”

Western Mass News spoke with Northampton city councilor Mel Robbins who told us that when she campaigned door to door this past summer and autumn, she was surprised to hear across wards, many heated resident concerns over this project.

Robbins released a statement to western mass news that reads, “They want real transparency. If MassDOT is showing a $10 million dollar cost increase to this project on their part due to rising costs, how much does that mean the city will have to increase funding from their original $3.6 million kick in? Where will those funds come from?”

We did reach out to Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra for comment but have not heard back.

Herrell as well as the group Save Main Street propose the city do a trial run. Not in the hopes it will fail but to be safe since once the concrete is poured there is no going back to the old Main Street.

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