Appendix C
2015 Downtown Circulation Study
Final Report
Downtown Circulation Study
Nashua, New Hampshire
Prepared for City of Nashua, New Hampshire
Prepared by VHB/ Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.
Bedford, New Hampshire
January, 2015
@ Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.
Downtown Circulation Study
Nashua, New Hampshire
Prepared for
The City of Nashua, NH
Prepared by
Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.
Bedford, New Hampshire
January, 2015
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Table of Contents
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1.0 Introduction...
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2.0 Existing Conditions.....
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3.1 Conceptual Alternatives .....ccsscsssssesserssssssseessesssssavesessseenversssevserseassseisssensvetsasseensesnsenes 20
3.1.1 Walnut Street Oval ......ceccsscesescecssectssessescassecesesacsnsnentenenesesessussestesteneeteteanees 20
3.1.2 Water Street... sabi guavig sap sp ose sia sestonnaeonnanonateasiosnnimaNmteasratiais Oe
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3.1.5 Factory Street/Temple Street and East and West Peatl Stee ees
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3.1.7 Park Street es Court Street... suaioiiniashateaatagnjaakightat rh HUAN ALD
3.1.8 Pedestrian Signal PhESINSis son sssnswsmnaimimenananinectsranoraniaannl
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List of Figures
Figure No. Description
1 Study Area
2 Broad Street Parkway Concept Plan
3 Public Transportation
4 Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities
5 Hourly Volumes - Main Street, North of Hollis Street
6 Hourly Volumes - East Hollis Street, East of Main Street
7 Hourly Volumes — Chestnut Street, North of West Hollis Street
8 2017 Weekday Morning Peak Hour Traffic Volumes
9 2017 Weekday Evening Peak Hour Traffic Volumes
10 2017 Level of Service Summary
11 Crash Summary
2 Exiting Conditions Summary
13 Walnut Street Oval Grid Pattern Circulation Alternative
i4 Walnut Street Oval Southern Consolidation Alternatives
15 Walnut Street Oval Northern Consolidation Alternatives
16 Walnut Street Oval Dual Roundabout Alternatives
17 Water Street Pedestrian Corridor Alternative
18 Factory Street Temple Street Two-way Conversion Alternative
19 East and West Pearl Streets Two-way Conversion Alternative
20 Factory Street/Temple Streets and East and West Pearl Streets Reverse One-way
21 Spring Street Two-way Conversion Alternative
22 Park Street and Court Streets Two-way Conversion Alternative
23 Exclusive Pedestrian Crossing
24 Concurrent Pedestrian Crossing
25 Concurrent Pedestrian Crossing with Early Release
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Executive Summary
Introduction
Nashua’s Downtown serves an integral role in defining the identity and spirit of the
community. Main Street and the surrounding roadways that make up the Downtown
are places to gather, conduct business, and express the values that unite residents.
With this in mind, the City of Nashua retained Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB)
to evaluate existing traffic circulation within the Downtown and to make suggestions
on any needed modifications that might enhance the experience of those who live,
work, and visit the Downtown. The purpose of the study is to:
« Develop and evaluate potential actions to improve roadway and intersection
traffic flow with regard to mobility
e Strengthen transit, pedestrian, and bicycle connections
e Enhance accessibility for residents and business within the Downtown.
The intent of the study is not to develop or recommend major reconstruction projects,
but rather, to identify modest actions that the City might consider implementing over
time.
The study area is generally bound by the Nashua River to the north, Spruce Street to
the east, East and West Hollis Streets to the south, and Pine Street to the west.
——_———— ee
Existing Conditions
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A review of existing conditions revealed a vibrant and thriving Downtown. Traffic
volume demand is high, not only during the peak commuter hours, but throughout
the day. Traffic flow is controlled along the major arterials of Main Street, West
Hollis Street, and East Hollis Street by a total of nine traffic signal controlled
intersections. Additionally, as part of the Broad Street Parkway project, two new
traffic signals will be installed at the Central Street/ Pine Street and Central
Street/Palm Street intersections.
The results of the operational analyses, with the Broad Street Parkway in place,
indicate that each of the signalized intersections are expected to operate acceptably
(LOS D or better). Similarly, the results of the evaluation shows acceptable operating
conditions at the unsignalized study area intersections with the exception of the
Walnut Street Oval, which revealed an LOS F operation during the weekday evening
peak hour.
The most dominating feature of the Downtown’s existing roadway network is the
presence of numerous one-way streets. Factory Street and Temple Street form a one-
Executive Summary
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way east-west couplet with East Pearl Street and West Pearl Street. Similarly, West
Hollis Street forms a one-way east-west couplet with Kinsley Street. There are also
numerous north-south one-way couplets such as Pine Street with Palm Street, Ash
Street with Vine Street, and Chestnut Street with Walnut Street. Other one-way
streets include School Street, Cedar Street, Eldridge Street, Spring Street, Foundry
Street, South Street, Cottage Avenue, Court Street, and Park Street.
The Downtown is well served by public transportation with the Nashua Transit
Center located on Elm Street in the heart of the Downtown. The Nashua Transit
System runs Citybus (a daytime fixed route service); After 7 (an evening fixed route
service); and City Lift (a paratransit senior citizen service, with routes throughout the
Downtown,
Pedestrian mobility is accommodated primarily with the presence of sidewalks,
crosswalks, pedestrian phase actuation at traffic signal controlled intersections, and
off-road facilities such as the Nashua Heritage Rail Trail and the Nashua Riverwalk.
Sidewalks are provided along nearly all streets within the study area with only
minor exceptions. Crosswalks are present at major roadway intersections while
midblock crossings are present along East Pearl Street, Main Street, Temple Street
Pine Street, and Palm Street.
The Nashua Heritage Rail Trail, which runs parallel to West Hollis Street, provides
access to both pedestrians and bicyclists. While the trail has some roadway crossings,
it provides an important alternative to the high traffic volume route of West Hollis
Street.
Other than the Nashua Heritage Rail Trail, there are few defined bicycle facilities
within the study area. Defined bicycle lanes are provided on Temple Street, between
Spring Street and East Pearl Street, and on East Pearl Street, between Spring Street
and Temple Street. Bicycle lanes are marked and include both diamond and bicycle
shaped identification markings. Bicycle shoulders are also provided along Pine
Street, Palm Street, and will be provided along the soon-to-be completed.
Also, the Nashua Heritage Rail Trail and the defined bicycle lanes along such
roadways as Temple Street and East Pearl Street are not well connected. This absence
of connectivity tends to discourage recreational bicyclists and young bicyclists from
using the existing bike facilities. Additionally, no bicycle racks were observed.
However, the City has recently purchased bike racks as part of the City’s sidewalk
reconstruction project. The City is currently considering where best to locate the bike
racks,
A review of crash data over the nine-year period of 2002 through 2010 showed the
Main Street / West Hollis Street /East Hollis Street intersection to have the most
reported crashes with an average of over 10 crashes per year. This intersection also
showed the highest occurrence of pedestrian related crashes with a total of eight
pedestrian related crashes over the nine-year period. Also of note, 70 percent of all
pedestrian related crashes within the study area occurred at signalized intersections
that have pedestrian crossing signals.
Executive Summary
@ Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, lnc.
Public Input
The study included an open and consensus-driven public participation process. In
addition to meetings with City staff and a public presentation to a joint meeting of
the Board of Aldermen Committee on Infrastructure and Planning & Economic
Development Committee, an important public workshop was held on April 30, 2014.
The workshop, which was attended by residents, property and business owners, as
well as the Mayor, members of the Board of Aldermen and key City staff, provided
attendees an opportunity to share their ideas on a wide range of potential solutions
directly with the study team in an informal workshop-type format.
The following is a small sampling of some of the comments provided by attendees of
the workshop. This is not a complete list of the comments and suggestions.
Do not remove on-street parking.
Maintain raised crosswalks.
Bike racks are needed throughout the Downtown.
Bike lanes need to be connected and routes need to be developed for both
east-west as well as north-south travel.
Consider “walk with traffic” pedestrian traffic signals.
Converting Water Street to a pedestrian connection with green space is a
good idea.
Reverse the one-way flow on East Pearl Street and Temple Street to improve
circulation.
The Post Office on Spring Street is the cause of most of the existing problems
on the street — customers cause backups during the morning peak hours.
Maintain one-way operation East Hollis Street and East Pearl Street, but
convert Spring Street to two-way,
Consider any circulation modifications within the context of future land
development projects.
These and many other comments and suggestions were considered in the
development of the Study Findings.
Study Findings
To improve vehicular mobility, strengthen transit, pedestrian, and bicycle
connections, and to enhance accessibility for residents and businesses, the City
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should consider converting some of the Downtown’s one-way streets to two-way
flow. However, changing the circulation patterns of several streets at the same time
can be disruptive and therefore it would be best to implement these types of actions
over time. Some of the actions could be implemented now, some in the future, and
some would be best implemented as part of future roadway reconfiguration projects.
Walnut Street Oval
Reconfiguring the Walnut Street Oval would not only afford the City an opportunity
to enhance access to the Downtown from the west (complimenting the Broad Street
Parkway), but it would also provide a tremendous opportunity to both encourage
redevelopment and introduce a more pedestrian friendly appeal to the area.
A range of reconfiguration alternatives were considered. Although each option has
its advantages and disadvantages, the duel roundabout option would appear to
provide the best opportunity to enhance vehicular and pedestrian mobility while
encouraging area redevelopment.
Advancing the roadway reconfiguration, solely as a City improvement project,
would be costly and as result could " ‘
take many years. However, if there ™s TT et ae
was an opportunity for this type of cl TN
roadway reconstruction project to : ae Fifa \ ho
be constructed by the private sector 4, ip ~ == ——$=
as part of a larger redevelopment i"
plan where the City and one or ee |
more property developers worked |
together, this type of projectcould | BI | i
advance much quicker. To advance | ee |
this concept, the City should share | fe) FSr7 | “FT
the reconfiguration concept with j - ee =
interested area property developers cows —-
and initiate discussions with them in an effort to Spark interest in the area's
redevelopment opportunities.
Water Street
If one or more private developers, in collaboration with the City, were to advance a
pedestrian friendly redevelopment plan for the Walnut Street Oval area, it would be
advantageous to provide continuous pedestrian connectivity to the Nashua River at
Water Street. This could be done by ci
converting the western segment of
Water Street to a pedestrian
corridor. Full vehicular access and
egress would be maintained for all
businesses on Water Street by way
of the traffic signal controlled Main
Street intersection, The pedestrian
corridor, which would connect to
Factory Street, would not only
provide access to pedestrians and
bicyclists, but it would provide an
aesthetically pleasing area with
landscaping, benches, and great views of the River.
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Board of Aldermen — 1/26/16 Page 6
Alderman Clemons
| just want to remind everyone to vote on February 9"" for whoever might become our next President.
In regards to the gentleman who had a question regarding the legislation, R-16-001; that intends to
create a trust fund for monies that have already been designated for downtown so all it does is move
money that has already been allocated for improvements for downtown into a designated account.
Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja
Signs Café on February 17": their topic is going to be Opioids and Addiction. They have two speakers at
a minimum and there is a presentation and then a question and answer.
President McCarthy
| would encourage everyone to go out and vote on the 9" and as a result of that the next meeting of this
Board will be on the 10".
| would remind members of the public, because I’ve received three calls in the last couple of days, that
there is no Windows Technical Department that will call you about problems with your computer. It is a
scam.
Alderman Lopez
| wanted to remind the Board of Aldermen that tomorrow is the Homeless Connect Event at Harbor
Homes from 11:30 a.m. — 3:00 p.m. It’s an opportunity for the public to meet support or non-profit
organizations. A lot of the work has been done by Bob Mack from the Health Department and | wanted
to recognize him for that leadership. If there is anybody in the public who is in that situation or needs
help with that you are definitely welcome to come as well. There should be haircuts, lunch and a lot of
organizations that are ready to help you.
Committee announcements:
Alderman Dowd
This Thursday is the JSSB and CPC starting at 6:30 p.m. with the organizational meeting with the five
members of the Board of Education as well. Budget will be on Thursday, February 18"" and following
that we will have Budget meetings on the fourth Monday of every month for now.
Alderman Clemons
Personnel & Administrative Affairs Committee will be on Monday, February 1* at 7:00 p.m. here in the
Chamber and moving forward we will have those meetings monthly on the first Monday of every month
as needed.
Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja
Planning and Economic Development Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, February 2™ at 7:00 p.m.
and we will continue meeting on the first and third Tuesday’s of the month unless there is no business at
that time.
Alderman Wilshire
Human Affairs will meet here at 7:00 p.m. on February 8".
