Concord Mayor: Northwest Bypass a ‘No Go’

More residents and abutters to the proposed Northwest Bypass, the third leg of the Langley Parkway, offered comment on the potential controversial project at Bishop Brady High School on Oct. 10.

City Engineer Ed Roberge and Rob Mack, a traffic engineer for the city of Concord, walked residents through the positive aspects of the project (a complete overview of their comments can be found on Patch’s story from Oct. 9, at this link).

However this evening’s attendees, about 60 people, mostly residing in the lower Penacook, Rumford, and Bradley streets area, soundly condemned the project, saying the engineer’s promotion of it as an enhancement to the city was false and that hundreds of residents would be negatively impacted by the proposal.

Leslie Ludkee, a former associate attorney general for the state of New Hampshire, called the bypass “an ill-conceived project.”

Sara Robinson, who just purchased a home in the area, said the project would funnel even more traffic into her front yard.

“Our property values will plummet,” she said. “Where’s my resale value going to go?”

Roberge admitted that when traffic studies are performed and transportation corridors eyed, property values of those abutting the project are not considered. He later estimated that about 8,000 cars flow through the area now and the bypass would probably increase that flow to 11,000 cars per day.

Robert Baker, a Penacook Street resident, asked about speed limits and suggested that the lanes be narrower, in order to ensure better public safety. He feared that the road would become a speedway through numerous residential neighborhoods.

Perkins Street resident Meredith Hatfield said she liked roundabouts, in general, but advised the engineers to watch the Franklin and North State streets roundabout in the morning and they would find out that it wasn’t a traffic calming mechanism. Commuters are passing other commuters in the single-lane roundabout, she said. Hatfield added that the North End community looked at themselves as an extended “part of the downtown culture” with an emphasis on bikes and walking.

However, one resident, Julie Petty of Penacook, stated that she had a 1-year-old daughter who was on oxygen and often needed monthly visits to Concord Hospital. She said she would fight to the end to ensure the project was constructed. Petty stated that on a good day, it takes 15 minutes for an ambulance to take her daughter to the hospital; on a bad day, it’s 20 minutes or more. Every minute, she noted, was life or death for her daughter.

At the end of the presentation, Concord Mayor Jim Bouley, who didn’t attend Tuesday’s meeting, rose to tell attendees that there was no money for the project and it probably wouldn’t be constructed. But it was, he said, important for residents to reach out to the councilors to confirm their positions about the project. 

Later in the evening, in an email, Bouley stated that there was no money, no need, and no support for the Northwest Bypass, so it was a “no go” in his eyes.

“There are plenty of other higher priorities,” he said.

The Northwest Bypass is on a list of potential projects that could be constructed for the city and has been approved in the city’s CIP list of projects for many years. During the last 11 budget cycles, various councilors have tried to pull it from the CIP, in an effort to kill it, but it has always been approved.

In September 2011, the city council gave Roberge the green light to request federal grant money for construction of the Northwest Bypass, along with the Complete Streets Main Street project, which later, received federal funds. After receiving the funds, the project was fast-tracked, in order to get constructed during the timeframe required by the federal grant, much to the chagrin of many residents who believe the project needs more study time, fails to meet the complete streets objective, and is too expensive.

Roberge said the city would be taking written comments and questions about the project at this email address: langleyparkwaycomments-at-concordnh.gov.

A third public meeting, for the entire city to comment on the project, will be held on Nov. 21, at the city council chambers on Green Street. 

The city has also posted all its public meeting information online, including current design plans and other information about the project:

• Langley Parkway Phase 3 bullet points
• Project location map
• Project Overview
• Concept Plan: Roundabout Option
• Concept Plan: Signal Option
• Public Meeting Schedule

Reader analysis

Both Baker and Allan Herschlag were also in attendance at the meeting and offer theses post-meeting blog posts:

• Langley Parkway as a City Council Priority
• The Langley Parkway Meeting Just Got A Lot More Interesting