Baker: Councilors Should Oppose Northwest Bypass Extension

Editor’s Note: Robert Baker wrote the following letter to the mayor and Concord City Councilors and has submitted it to Concord NH Patch for publication.

Dear Mayor and Councilors,

I wanted to share several reasons to oppose the Langley Parkway Phase III Improvement Project (LP3) to be discussed at Tuesday’s Outyears CIP meeting.

Concord developed the Complete Streets policy which has been analyzed by Smart Growth America as the lowest rated Complete Streets Policy across the country for the last three years:
2014 - 130th out of 130: http://cyclemainstreet.blogspot.com/2015/02/nationwide-710-complete-streets.html
2013 - 100th out of 100: http://cyclemainstreet.blogspot.com/2014/02/nationwide-610-complete-streets.html
2012 - 65th out of 65: http://cyclemainstreet.blogspot.com/2013/04/nationwide-488-complete-streets.html

The Comprehensive Transportation Policy can not even be located on the city web site. In my opinion this policy is a Complete Streets Policy in name only!

We need to provide liveable streets to the citizens of Concord. Main Street redesign is very questionable as to safe access for all users. The proposed Loudon Road bike lanes fail to provide safe crossing at the intersections.

ALSO READ:

• Northwest Bypass Plan in West Concord Gets Panned
• Concord Mayor: Northwest Bypass a ‘No Go’
• Langley Parkway as a City Council Priority
• Complete Streets is About Transportation for Everyone
• Is It Time to Permanently Shelve Langley Parkway?
• The Langley Parkway Meeting Just Got A Lot More Interesting

The Langley Parkway Phase III Improvement Project is being marketed as a “Complete Streets” project as well as improving congestion across the city. As an advocate of Complete Streets I believe this representation fails. Instead LP3 is an attempt to build our way out of congestion under a false promise. I would appreciate an opportunity to talk in detail about my opposition but will present some of these concerns here.

At Bouton Street the LP3 plans propose two left turn lanes (Northbound to Westbound). These two lanes then combine in less than one block before Bradley Street. This will likely create a dangerous drag strip where two cars compete to be first up the road. Taking more space from in front of these houses will eliminate essential parking spaces for residents. In winter the snow pack requires significant space for snow management.

At the Bouton/Penacook street intersection there is NO provision for bicycles now and the two left turn lanes will make this even more dangerous. I use this intersection almost every day year round by bicycle. I can not imagine how I could continue to live where I do with LP3. Effectively this high speed roadway would destroy what is a challenging street already. In my opinion the proposed parkway disrupts many neighborhoods and creates more asphalt, in a city which continues to show it is incapable of maintaining the roadways and sidewalks it already has.

Across the City of Concord the sidewalks have become unusable for many people. Our streets fail to be Complete Streets and I suspect Langley Parkway Phase III would be just more of the same. As the city continues to prioritize motorized traffic other modes have become marginalized. In the summer the lack of shade trees and buffer to the roadways has rendered walking challenging at best. In the winter the sidewalks have become useless to the old and young and anyone in wheeled assistive vehicle. Many sidewalks become dead ends when snow plowers pile snowpack onto them.

When the Boys and Girls Club was remodeled in 2013 we were promised a shared used path to the park. This winter the pathway no longer exists and the Kimball Park access for pedestrians, from the neighborhood South of Bradley and Penacook, is to walk in the street and climb over six to 12 foot snowbanks. This has effectively cut off pedestrian and bicycle access to the park to prioritize automobiles. The proposed LP3 design includes variations of 12 foot lanes with an adjacent shared use path which is discontinuous and on one side.

What is the design speed of a 12 foot lane? Forty five or 50 mph? This will likely result in high speed traffic upon the parkway while effectively destroying significant valuable recreation space and destroying other neighborhoods. The proposed shared use path is unlikely to be maintained year round. Given the fundamental precept of Complete Streets that roads are developed for use by ALL users of ALL ages and abilities, the promise of a parkway as a Complete Streets design is disingenuous.

Please oppose this project and direct the City Manager and city staff to develop and maintain our roadways and sidewalks so that owning a car is not a requirement to participate in life in Concord, NH.

Respectfully,
Robert T. Baker