Plan NH report offers suggestions to make Manchester streets safer

Paul Feely, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
·3 min read

Jan. 29—Reducing two-lane streets to one lane, adding bike lanes, making sidewalks easier to get to and planting more trees could help make streets in parts of Manchester safer, according to a new report.

Last summer, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and Plan New Hampshire (Plan NH) held meetings in Queen City neighborhoods to talk about city streets considered dangerous for residents and drivers.

Staff with the two organizations said drivers are treating Maple, Beech and Chestnut streets like speedways. In recent years, city officials have redesigned roads north of Bridge Street to make them safer, and CLF and Plan NH say it's time to do the same for neighborhoods south of Bridge Street.

With support from city officials, CLF submitted an application to the nonprofit Plan NH in January 2023 for funds to hold forums focused on safety and quality of life for the neighborhood surrounding the Maple and Beech streets corridor.

According to the application, officials said the work presents the "perfect opportunity to engage the community to explore solutions for improving current two-lane, one-way streets in the center city to calm traffic and support cyclists and pedestrians, and to enhance quality of life for residents."

According to Plan NH, residents' key traffic concerns were safety and parking, which were addressed with the following recommendations:

—Reduce the number of lanes to slow traffic and shorten the distance pedestrians need to cross.

—Extend curbs to slow traffic, specifically at intersections.

—Use speed check signs to raise driver awareness of their speed.

—Upgrade signal equipment.

—Shift parking from arterial streets (Maple and Beech) to side streets.

—Mark parking spaces on side streets with paint to maximize available space.

—Allow parking within 20 feet of intersections with no signal and with 30 feet of intersections with signal lights.

—Simplify and reduce number of parking signs for clearer communication.

The Corey Square intersection at Maple and Lowell streets near one corner of Central High School is "confusing and often traversed at high speeds" by vehicles, according to Plan NH, which suggested reimagining Corey Square as a roundabout to slow traffic and prioritize non-motorized transportation.

In 2019, Manchester aldermen voted to maintain a bicycle lane and reduce a portion of Maple Street north of Bridge Street to one vehicle lane as a way to reduce motorists' speed.

City public works officials recommended the changes after reviewing the results of a temporary pilot program for reducing speeds through the area.

Temporary pilot program in 2019

Earlier that year, aldermen voted to authorize the temporary pilot program as a potential method to calm traffic in the area of Maple and Beech streets, where data at the time showed 337 accidents over a three-year period at 12 intersections along the Maple, Beech and Union street corridors between Webster and Bridge streets.

Public works crews did some re-striping on Maple Street, including a 3-foot shoulder, 11-foot travel lane, 5-foot bicycle lane and buffer zone to move bicycles away from the "door zone" of parked vehicles.