Rt. 25 Planning/Traffic Study Report

[mcdude]

From the Citizen

Planners Discuss Route 25 Report in Moultonborough

Article Date: Thursday, December 6, 2007
Possible development and specific traffic issues on Route 25 were addressed in a meeting of local planners and corridor stakeholders.

Representatives from the Department of Transportation, the Lakes Region Planning Commission, and locals planners, officials, and residents gathered on Tuesday for a meeting of the Local Advisory Work Group of the Route 25 corridor study.

The group has met regularly since July to discuss safety and traffic issues along the road from the Meredith-Center Harbor town line to the intersection of Route 109 south in Moultonborough. Additionally, planners have conducted traffic studies, build out analyses, and mapping of the corridor.

According to a build-out analysis, Center Harbor has a total of 796.65 acres — 538.72 of which are buildable — along the corridor and Moultonborough has 9,026.57 acres, 4,877.90 of which are buildable.

An analysis of potential trips also was conducted, using the national average of 9.57 trips per single-family house, and commercial development would have 56.63 trips per thousand square feet of gross floor area as well as analyzing average trips per 1,000 square feet of existing homes and businesses on Route 25.

While there are around 54,364 generated trips combined in Moultonborough and Center Harbor, that number would increase more than four times over if all the buildable space along the corridor were filled, based on current land availability, zoning, and environmental restrictions.

"Any changes to your zoning could have impacts," said Adam Kurowski, regional planner with the LRPC.

Key safety concerns along the corridor were addressed, with five specifically identified, along with suggestions for improvement.

The intersections of Fox Hollow Road, Glidden Road, Sheridan Road, and Redding Lane in Moultonborough were shown to possibly be improved with changes in road striping, the addition of left-turning lanes, and the use of overhead signs and yellow lights to identify intersections. Potential road-widening was also discussed for Redding Lane and Glidden Road, while culverts and berms were discussed for other roads.

Another major issue is pedestrian safety through Center Harbor village. The is one long crosswalk from Lake Street across Route 25 and a signaled crosswalk further down.

The speed limit coming east on Route 25 goes from 55 miles per hour to 35 in a short stretch and becomes 30 through the village, though high speeds have still been reported through the area, especially in times of low traffic.

The pedestrian concern is especially strong for customers and employees of Canoe Restaurant, who often will cross the street any place they can find an opening in traffic.