Main Street Fails Complete Streets for TIGER Grant Funding

The Main Street project fails to be a Complete Streets solution and should not be TIGER funded. The reasons are twofold:

1.   The TIGER Grant Application in part proposes a Complete Streets design which encourages sustainability as well as multiple modes of transportation choice. 

The design is compelling from a pedestrian and motor vehicle standpoint in many respects but falls short of the TIGER Grant application that received US DOT approval. This federal funding is in part about increasing livability in our community. The desire for maximum parking is clear but to warrant to US DOT that the plan is a Complete Streets design misrepresents the facts. Multiple modes of transportation are not encouraged. 

In the design presented to City Council on Monday 2/11/13 - where there is front in diagonal parking, bicycle access will not improve over the existing condition. This is a dangerous configuration for cyclists – it will continue to be the domain of motor vehicle travel. This does not encourage bicycle travel in these areas.

Transit (bus) users will walk further to reach their stops near Centre Street north and will walk further south than the existing stops. Some stops may be relocated onto Storrs Street. The changes increase the walking distance of many transit users favoring instead those who bring their cars and trucks to park on Main Street. This effectively reduces the attractiveness of using transit to access downtown. It was suggested Monday that the stops have not yet been finalized. This is perhaps good news but clearly transit has not been given any sort of equal priority or attention. 

2.   Concord, NH as a community, is designed primarily for automobile travel. This is evident following the snow storm which dumped two feet of snow in our city last week. Pedestrians have had little option but to walk in the automobile traffic lanes across the city and it is only when the sidewalk plows work through the piles that this will be rectified. The question is - do we want Concord to continue to be a place where owning a motor vehicle is required to fully participate in modern society. 

Multi-modal transportation choice allow people to replace motor vehicle trips with alternatives such as walking, bicycling and transit. This only works if these are safe alternatives for those who may want to choose them. The bicycle, as the most efficient form of human powered transport (approaching 98% efficiency in some cases) is an important component of a sustainable future. Combined with efficient transit and pedestrian infrastructures these can offer citizens and visitors choice. 

The federal application and TIGER grant is quite clear in it's support for Complete Streets. The current design fails to meet the requirements and should therefore not be federally funded.

I wrote the essence of this letter to the Mayor in hopes it would be part of the public hearing record on Monday 2/11/13. Unfortunately it was not acknowledged. I also participated in the NH Listens event of 2/4/13 and found the Final Report grossly misrepresented a discussion in my group. 

The Small Group Report summary suggests that 'people should be forced to use the garages, to walk and to bicycle' (NH Listens Report pg 7: Appendix B, Group AAA, Number 2, bullet 2). No one should be forced to do any of these things. I trust this blog entry will convey my message which is about transportation choice and expectations. I consider the NH Listens Report as hearsay.