Business owners and residents on Monday viewed concepts for two "extreme" versions of a redesigned Merchants Way: One that maximizes parking and another that maximizes green space.

The idea is that the final plan for the 1/3-mile roadway lies somewhere between the two concepts.

Christine Scypinski of the Winchester-based Waterfield Design Group has created "concept drawings" containing all of the changes that could possibly be made to Merchants Way, which runs adjacent to Main Street along the Agawam River.

"Concept drawings are a set of ideas put on paper for people to react to," Community and Economic Development Authority Director Salvador Pina explained. "They are not engineers' plans."

For example: A small cafe in the train depot with outdoor seating, benches, and bike racks; improved parking, generous sidewalks, better signage, a boardwalk along the river; art in the alleyways, space for festivals, farmer's markets, and vendors; green infrastructure with storm water infiltration to minimize the runoff of pollutants into the river; a separate, multi-use walking/bike trail.

"This is no longer a back door," Scypinski said of Merchants Way while explaining the concepts on Monday. "This is going to become a front door."

After hearing overwhelming concerns from business owners in May regarding parking, Scypinski separated the ideas into two extremes for Monday's meeting. One drawing emphasized parking and a second emphasized greenery.

Also among the ideas is speed tables -- raised areas, smaller than speed bumps, meant to slow down traffic -- in response to concerns about speeding vehicles and pedestrian safety on the road.

Attendees then got to point out aspects of the drawings they liked and disliked.

Scypinski emphasized the importance of finding some kind of solution for the dumpsters on Merchants Way. Explaining that every business seems to have its own dumpster, she suggested perhaps consolidating the dumpsters behind a screen or fence that would hide them from the public.

"You're wasting your parking with dumpsters," she said, and referring to the unfortunate situation on Merchants Way during heavy rain, pointed out: "They're floating [and] moving around."

Adelaide De Ponte of the Jug Shop on Main Street worried that consolidating dumpsters and moving them in a central location might prove difficult for business owners, especially when they need to dispose of trash during the winter months.

Other attendees worried about the disruption construction might cause. The Merchants Way project is a continuation of the Main Street "Streetscape" beautification project, the second phase of which was recently finished.

"Construction does affect movement through an area," Scypinski offered, "but improvement requires construction."

Still, business owners worried about lost revenue.

"Last month alone I lost $15,000," said Michael Thomas of M&D Bait and Tackle. The second phase of the "Streetscape" project covered Center Street to the Narrows Bridge, where M&D is located.

Thomas described the drawing that maximized parking as the "least abrasive" to his business, and said the second "puts me out of business, period."

Pina assured Thomas and all attendees: "The answer is somewhere in the middle" of the drawings. "We pick extremes because we think it's someplace in the middle."

The meeting was one of several involving stakeholders in which all could sound off about what might be done to enhance Merchants Way.

The rumors have been rampant that plans were set in stone, however, despite Community and Economic Development Authority personnel stressing that: 1) The ideas discussed for Merchants Way are simply ideas and, 2) The town could not possibly implement all of the ideas.

"If you hear people tell you that it's a done deal ... that's hooey," Pina told the dozen or so people gathered for the meeting. "You are at the beginning of the process. ... We are far from plans."

Pina and Scypinski anticipate that the next meeting on the Merchants Way redesign will be a public hearing before the Board of Selectmen. The date for that meeting has not yet been determined.

Check back! We'll publish updated concept drawings right here.