Complete Streets Committee Member Attempts to Stifle Discussion

At the Feb. 4, New Hampshire Listens event for the redesign of Concord’s Main Street, I was approached by a member of the Complete Streets Committee and told not to bring up or waste my group's time discussing the proposed roundabout.

The reason given to me by the committee person was that the roundabout was only included as an option to satisfy the requirements of the Complete Streets grant and there was no intention of moving forward with this design option. 

So here’s what’s interesting. The packet handed out by NH Listens specifically instructs participants to discuss two items: The closure of Phenix Avenue and the intersection of Pleasant and Main. Participants were further instructed to review diagrams of the proposals and one of the diagrams depicted a round about for the Pleasant and Main intersection.

The second point I found intriguing was when Ed Roberge, the city engineer, was auditing our group.

One of our group's participants asked Roberge if the roundabout was a dead idea. Roberge responded, That’s why you’re here ... What do you think?

There was discussion about the problems with the design of the roundabout and how it would impact both pedestrian and vehicular traffic patterns. Finally, I asked If there was no intention of constructing a roundabout, why was it included in the design plan?

My question was met by silence from our city engineer. 

There are a number of issues I find troubling by being approached by a committee person and directed as to what I should and should not discuss. First and foremost, this is a forum that was specifically designed so the public would be able to feel comfortable voicing their opinions. Why would a committee person think it is their responsibility to direct the conversation of a participant in the NH Listens forum? Wouldn’t that be the job of the moderator from each group to keep those participating on task?

It would be easy for someone, not as callused as myself, to be intimidated into not bringing up issues that they felt should be discussed.

The interference of the committee person was clearly out of bounds.

Perhaps I should have talked to Steve Duprey (the Complete Streets Committee Chairperson) about this breach and inquired if this was a tactic that was discussed by the committee or if the individual who approached me had a warped sense of what their position on the committee entailed.

And finally, regardless of the fact that a committee person attempted to stifle discussion by a participant, the real problem is that the way the NH Listens program is designed it steers participants away from the truly important question surrounding this project: And that is how does this make the our downtown more economically viable.

Fortunately there are people who are participating in these forums who also understand that the bottom line is the bottom line. 

So shame on the committee person and kudos to the participants.