Prevent Expansion of Lafayette Rd (Route 1)
Background
Walkable Portsmouth is opposing the New Hampshire Department of Transportation's (NHDOT) proposed expansion of Route 1, a wolf in sheep's clothing that is falsely being presented as a project to enhance bike and pedestrian infrastructure. The project includes adding bike and pedestrian lanes, but not in an efficient way that consumes existing road and enhances pedestrian and bike use. Instead, the DOT's goal is to add automobile travel lanes & road width, construct ~$5 million of roundabouts to increase non-stop traffic flow, and introduce additional turn lanes. This focus on vehicular traffic expansion makes it less attractive to use route 1 for biking/walking unless forced to do so due to economic strain or age.
Detailed Lane Addition Analysis
Induced Demand
NHDOT's approach fails to understand the well-proven law of induced demand, which says that increasing road capacity encourages more people to drive, ultimately leading to higher traffic volumes and actually making congestion even worse. The addition of 3,100 feet of lanes and roundabouts designed to free-flow car movement will attract more vehicles, undermining the safety and tranquility of residential neighborhoods as well as any biking/walking infrastructure.
Stop Prioritizing Speeding Cars
Walkable Portsmouth advocates for de-prioritization that genuinely favors non-motorized transportation modes while allowing necessary traffic through. This means traffic calming measures: a single northbound and southbound lane, a reduction in speed limit from 35 mph to 30 mph as in Hampton, and, if roundabouts are considered, a single lane entry roundabout as constructed in Newington or in Rye.
Implement More All-Way Stops
Background
Portsmouth has many intersections regulated by two-way stops, such as South-Pleasant-Marcy, Woodbury-Maplewood, and Junkins-Pleasant. Our city also has neighborhood streets like Aldrich, McKinley, Banfield, and Woodbury, which having been turned into speedways are then subject to complex traffic calming projects that take many years and taxpayer dollars to execute. There is a better, cheaper, proven method - the all-way stop.
Federal Interference
All-way stops significantly reduce near misses & crashes and improve safety for all users, especially when accompanied by neckdowns, bulbouts, and zebra crosswalks. They do not interfere with fire department operations as do speed tables. However, traffic engineers continue to rely on unproven and outdated guidelines from the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD 2B), a publication from the biased Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The FHWA demands that stop signs not be used solely to reduce speeds or where a major road meets a minor road. The manual does offer exceptions, such as areas with high pedestrian activity. Traffic engineers often demand warrant studies to justify taking any action.
Totally Ignoring the Evidence
North Carolina is at the forefront of recent research which emphatically proves all-way stops are safest. NHDOT is even getting on board. The safety effects have been known for years. Data presented in the study Safety Effect of Conversion to All-Way Stop Control by Lovell & Hauer (1986) easily demonstrates that converting intersections to four-way stops can lead to a 50-90% reduction in total crashes. The study reviews data from multiple locations and controls for selection bias in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Toronto, and the state of Michigan. Bhagwant Persaud et al.'s Crash Reductions Related to Traffic Signal Removal in Philadelphia (1997) makes an even easier case of removing traffic signals and replacing them with all-way stops - an average vehicle-pedestrian crash rate reduction of 68%.
Two Way State Street
Background
Converting State Street from a one-way to a two-way street rights a wrong that many cities and towns inflicted upon themselves during 1960s urban renewal. The current one-way configuration is less conducive to the walkable, vibrant downtown Portsmouth aims to foster. It negatively impacts local businesses and pedestrian safety by creating a speedway. A speeding car never bought anything. Restaurants and bars are hobbled on a street that is only inbound to the Navy Yard - few people dine or sit down for a beer on the way to work (hopefully).
Progress So Far
The City commissioned one-way/two-way conversion study and presentation completed by Wall Consultant Group indicates only modest changes to traffic patterns even when bridge lifts are considered. Minimal parking spots are lost, and in fact retaining maximum on-street parallel parking serves the dual purpose of slowing down cars further and protecting pedestrians. Slower traffic also provides an opportunity to remove traffic signals and change to all way stops.
Plenty of Precedent
Governing Magazine's The Return of the Two-Way Street tells multiple stories of one-way/two-way conversion and how it revitalized the street. Riggs & Gilderbloom's Two-Way Street Conversion Evidence of Increased Livability in Louisville (2015) shows a collision reduction of 49%. Finally, here is a 2018 list of US cities who have made the switch - we would be in good company.