VILLAGE PLANNING COMMITTEE HOLDS FIRST IN A SERIES OF OPEN MEETINGS.

 

On Thursday evening, April 16th, Hancock residents filled the Town Office meeting room to capacity and actively participated in the first of three review meetings organized by Hancock's Village Planning Committee regarding improvements to the village's Main St.

 

Laurie Bryan served as moderator. VPC members, representatives from Meridian Land Services, Inc., the engineering firm retained by the town, and Knowles Design, a landscape architectural firm, were also in attendance. The meeting was a follow-up to the town's approval of the warrant article funding the design and engineering plans for Main St.

 

This initial meeting was an opportunity for Hancock residents to be involved in the process of improving the infrastructure of Main St., including: walkways, pedestrian safety, parking, traffic control, pavement edging, and drainage.

 

Meridian Land Services presented an extensive overview of the project, including key issues, design ideas, NH/DOT regulations, accessibility compliance (ADA), and preserving the rural and historic aspects of Main St.

 

The meeting agenda gathered input from Hancock residents, on the following subjects:

 

WALKWAYS:

  • Residents place a high priority on safe walkways that must be constructed to complement the village setting.
  • The historic "cow paths" on the south side of Main St. should be preserved, but moderately improved for safety and ease of walking.
  • More functional sidewalks should be constructed on the north side of Main St from School St. to the Meeting House. But only natural materials should be used (no asphalt).
  • The north side walkway should be kept cleared of snow throughout the winter as a safe alternative to walking in the street. Kurt Grassett, Hancock's Director of Public Works, reviewed the results of natural test materials for these walkways, and believes there is a workable and
    cost-effective solution.
  • Attendees suggested extending the sidewalk on the north side past the Historical Society building to the fountain area.
  • The walkway system on the north side needs to be in compliance with ADA ("Americans with Disabilities Act") requirements and should have a grass strip between the road edge and the walkway.

 

PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS:

  • There were a number of comments, suggestions, and questions regarding designated pedestrian crossing areas along Main St. A designated crossing comes under several regulatory requirements, including: NH/DOT, and ADA.
  • There is no "natural" route used by pedestrians, indicating the best locations for crosswalks.
  • The existing crosswalk near the Vestry does not connect to anything
  • Placement and design of new crosswalks would entail advisory signage for motorists in the historic district. Crosswalks and the additional required traffic signage in the village were not viewed favorably.
  • State law requires motorists to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians in a crosswalk, and it is a fineable citation for pedestrians who jaywalk and don't use the crosswalks. The minimum width for an approved crosswalk is 6 feet, but they can be wider.
  • If certain materials are used in their construction (stamped concrete, for example), crosswalks can serve as a traffic control element.
  • Residents offered ideas to install materials and signage at either end of the village alerting drivers that they are entering a pedestrian zone and should slow down. Materials for this purpose could be some type of stamped concrete or painted surface. Main St. residents would not like any materials that produced noise (so-called "rumble strips"). Cobblestone and brick are not a workable solution as evidenced by problems with these types of materials in historic Portsmouth.

PARKING:

  • There is a need to maximize parking for Main Street. Parking should be linked to the other infrastructure issues including drainage, street edges, etc.
  • Adequate and convenient parking is important to commerce in the village and should not be restricted in such a way as to impair business activity. Pedestrian crossings (see above) could take up several parking places.
  • As Main St. is a state highway, NH/DOT requires 60 degree diagonal parking. Presently, most drivers park straight in at 90 degrees and have poor sight lines when backing into the state road upon departure.
  • There is no delineation of parking spaces. In the past, painted lines were tested in front of the market, but with street sanding, and normal wear, the lines disappeared.
  • The old fire station in back of the market is not suitable for parking in its current configuration, as there is no acceptable 2-way entry/exit from the area.
  • The section of Tombstone Territory Rd (a private road) from Main St. to the parking area in back of the library should be repaired and paved by the town to improve access to the library's additional parking.

TRAFFIC CONTROL:

  • According to statistics provided by NH/DOT, there has been a significant increase in traffic volume moving through the village over the past five years.
  • The flat, straight, and wide nature of Main St. encourages driver speeds that are inappropriate for the village. Operator speed, sight lines of drivers pulling out of "head-in" parking, trucks blocking a clear view of oncoming traffic, and cars backing into the state road, all foster accidents and near misses.
  • To describe traffic control, the engineers refer to "traffic calming" which utilizes various visual and structural measures to modify driver behavior entering the village.
  • Meridian Land Services reviewed several concepts for traffic calming, and introduced the audience to new terminology such as: "mid-block chokers", "center island narrowing", "chicanes", "neckdowns", and "bulbouts" along with more familiar concepts such as: raised crosswalks, pavement markers, signage, and lighting.
  • There were suggestions put forth from audience members to slow traffic by narrowing the road on the east and west ends of Main St.
  • Traffic calming could possibly be achieved by re-configuring the roadway near the common and flagpole - slowing traffic around the curves created by the roadway.
  • By slowing traffic coming into the village, it would reduce or eliminate the need for crosswalks.
  • Speed bumps are out, but changes to the roadway and other traffic calming measures (see above) were not discounted by the participants.
  • Incorporating parking on Main St, possibly with textured pavement, could act as a traffic calming measure.
  • Means of entering and exiting from Norway Pond need improvement.
  • A stop sign at the west-end entry to the village would not be approved by NH/DOT in its current configuration. A stop sign could become part of the traffic calming if modifications were made in the road alignment.
  • Several audience comments urged the engineers to "keep it simple" in designing traffic calming measures.

EDGE OF PAVEMENT:

  • The village has many dirt shoulders along Main Street's road edge which contribute to the rural, visual character. However, over time, these dirt edges can erode - resulting in drainage problems and unsightly conditions.
  • Drivers pulling up on to the edge of the common and street sides can cause some of this erosion.
  • Generally, resident were concerned that putting uniform granite curbing along the edge of the street would "urbanize" Hancock, or otherwise disrupt its present visual character.
  • Any curbing must provide for handicapped access even if there are no crosswalks.
  • However, granite was viewed favorably if it were "sloped" into the adjacent dirt areas. This would lessen the uniform look and be easier on car tires.
  • Asphalt curbing might be appropriate for certain locations and applications.

DRAINAGE:

  • There was consensus that drainage problems along Main St. need to be fixed.
  • Improvements to street edging (see above) can improve drainage.
  • There has been progress on drainage improvements along Main St. with the installation of the drainage tanks installed last summer.
  • Hancock is blessed with a deep layer of sand under the village, facilitating water infiltration.
  • The drainage plan should eliminate run-off into Norway Pond.
  • There was some concern about changing the visual appearance in the village with prominent drains.
  • Meridian reviewed concepts for so-called "Tree Filters" and "Rain Gardens" which increase the infiltrations of groundwater runoff while improving street visual appeal and avoiding prominent drains.

OTHER COMMENTS:

  • Overall, the concepts presented by the engineers were viewed with caution by the audience.
  • Attendees emphasized it should be a priority that changes not impact the historic and rural nature of the village.
  • More trees would be very desirable.
  • Regarding traffic calming: Residents did not want to implement too much or more than is needed, and wanted to petition NH/DOT to reduce the speed limit to 25 MPH.
  • A question was raised regarding lighting for Main St. It is not part of the plan.
  • Suggestions to install a fence around the common were referred to the Common Commission.
  • Burying the wires was brought up and referred to the Common Commission and Director of Public Works.

NEXT MEETING:

The next open meeting on plans for Main Street improvements will be scheduled in June. In response to requests, the June meeting will be on a weekend. Meeting times and place will be posted in advance.

 

To keep up-to-date on Village Planning Committee developments, be sure to check the town

website at: http://www.hancocknh.org/OTOF/villageplanning.htm Copies of the slide presentation used at Thursday's meeting are available for viewing at the Town Offices and Hancock Library. If you would like to send along your comments, please email them to: villageplanningcommittee@yahoo.com

 

 

See you in June!

 

Submitted by:

Village Planning Committee

Howard Mansfield, Chair

 

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