The vote is in and car country prevailed on Loudon Road. It's a sad day for the community as Concord will continue to move forward with the $6.6M community center while failing to provide for community building that multi modal transport can provide. Another failure of Concord in completing the street. Long live the car... I guess.
Fortunately there are forward thinking people on the planet. For those of us disappointed in the lost opportunity on Loudon Road where 21,000 cars travel a day, let's take a look at a couple StreetFilms:
1. The busiest bicycle intersection in the world... 42,600 cyclists per day! Aahhh, that's the life!
1. The busiest bicycle intersection in the world... 42,600 cyclists per day! Aahhh, that's the life!
2. Complete Streets is about more.... Community building is going to require give and take in our community. We need to connect.
Loudon Road Web Cover - Sept 9, 2016: http://www.concordnh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3365
Road Diet Case Studies - USDOT (FHWA-SA-15-052) 2015: http://concordnh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8247
Information Meeting - Sept 7, 2016: http://www.concordnh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8139
Talking Points for Support for Loudon Road Road Diet
The reasons to support the Loudon Road Reconfiguration are varied and include the following (see referenced links below)
- Transportation choice (1)
- Supports physical activity, social interaction/cohesion, crime prevention and public safety (2)
- Making Kid Friendly Places (3)
- Complete Streets (4)
- City of Concord Comprehensive Transportation Policy (5)
- Climate Change (6)
The most compelling reason for changing Loudon Road is to provide transportation options and thereby increase liviaility. As discussed throughout this blog (see "Labels" tab in the right margin) there are a world of solutions tor increasing the livability and choice. The Loudon Road Reconfiguration provides us an opportunity to put people first and to enhance our community.
As the City of Concord invests in building a $6.6M Community Center on the Heights (http://www.concordnh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8075) it seems that making Loudon Road a community friendly transportation corridor would be a slam dunk. But it's not! We have an opportunity to build connections which will have lasting impacts on the future of our community.
I urge you to attend the meeting and support the reconfiguration of the road.
Presentation of proposed corridor improvements.
Wednesday, September 7, 2016 6:30 PM
Where: Heights Community Center, 14 Canterbury Road
(1) https://www.nh.gov/dot/programs/bikeped/ ; http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/index.cfm
(2) REPORT https://www.planning.org/nationalcenters/health/streetscale/ Final report: "The Benefits of Street-Scale Features for Walking and Biking - Active Living Research - American Planning Association, Sept 2015.
(3) http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/27347/if-you-want-a-place-to-welcome-kids-make-it-urban/ ;
http://www.wherethesidewalkstarts.com/2015/07/walking-comes-first-in-european.html
(4) https://www.nh.gov/dot/org/projectdevelopment/planning/complete-streets/index.htm ;
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org
(5) http://www.concordnh.gov/documentcenter/view/5790 - Approved June 8, 2015;
http://www.concordnh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5791
(6) http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ ; http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf ;
https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/