UR EAN DESIGN assocrates Nashua Downtown Master Plan
Existing 70
Main Street South
(top)
Proposed
Main Street South
(bottom)
UR EAN DESIGN assocrates Nashua Downtown Master Plan
Frameworks
I
Nashua Downtown Master Plan
Streets:
Access and Connectivity
1N GREAT CITIES STREETS are more than a means of simply 7p
moving traffic. Streets are just one of the many components
creating the public realm.
This Master Plan proposes a new framework of streets and
blocks for Downtown Nashua. The framework includes con-
verting one-way streets to two-way streets, improved
streetscaping, and alignments of new streets.
Many of the streets in Downtown Nashua were converted to
one-way movement after World War II as a means of moving
higher volumes of traffic through Downtown. Typically streets
were converted in pairs, one in each direction (such as Kinsley
and Hollis or Pearl and Factory). However, some are
“orphans”--that is, they are not paired.
The public outreach process uncovered a variety of opin-
ions, both negative and positive, about one-way streets. While
they do move more traffic, there are several negative impacts:
+ faster traffic, therefore a less pleasant pedestrian experience
* confusion and frustration for drivers who cannot move
through Downtown based on intuition
* needlessly additional vehicle miles due to restricted move-
ments and re-routing
+ — less desirable retail environment because businesses get
exposure to traffic during either the morning or afternoon
commute, but not both
+ diminished access to parking and other destinations
because of restricted movements
* reliance on wayfinding and signage because driving is no
longer intuitive.
For these reasons, the Master Plan recommends converting
as many one-way roads to two-way as possible. Doing so, how-
ever, is more complicated than simply removing the one-way
sign. Typically, slight reconstruction of the road and intersec-
tion, as well as new traffic signals are required. Because of the
complexity of converting streets from one-way to two, the
Master Plan recommends a phased sequence of conversions.
All streets have been categorized. A phased conversion is rec-
Nashua Downtown Master Plan
ommended beginning with those streets
that are the most simple to convert (the
“orphans”) because they are not paired
with another one-way street. Streets were
categorized as follows:
* streets that are less than 30' wide and
are too narrow to convert to two-way
movement with on-street parking
* — streets that can be easily converted
because they are wider than 30’ and
are not paired with a street in the
opposite direction
* — streets that are paired but can be con-
verted with signalization improve-
ments
+ — lowest priority streets whose conver-
sion is most complicated and there-
fore require most study.
A more detailed study of one way street
conversions is recommended as an early
action item in the Implementation Sec-
tion This study should examine street
widths, land uses, social / cultural con-
texts, impact of potential loss of on street
parking and costs.
One of the charges of the Master Plan
process was to examine the existing plans
for the Broad Street Parkway and make
recommendations for revisions if neces-
sary to better serve the Downtown and
the neighborhoods.
73
(op)
Unpaired streets greater
than 30 feet wide
shown in green
Remaining one-way
streets are shown in red.
{middle}
Paired streets with
sufficient width and
capacity shown in
green, Remaining one-
‘way streets are shown
in red.
(bottom)
Paired arterials that
require further study
shown in green.
Remaining one way
streets shown in red.
Nashua Downtown Master Plan
To this end, the planning team
reviewed and analyzed the current pro-
posal, interviewed the community devel-
opment staff, public works staff, and the
regional planning commission staff, con-
ducted a field examination, and applied
national experience from other similar
projects to the design of the Broad Street
Parkway.
The existing proposal for the Broad
Street Parkway calls for a four-lane arte-
rial highway, most of it divided by a cen-
ter median, extending a distance of 1.7
miles, from a northern terminus at Broad
Street to a southern terminus on Hollis
Street. In addition to its two terminus
intersections (Broad Street and Hollis
Street), the proposed parkway would
have three other intersections: at a con-
nection to a Sargent Avenue extension,
in the Millyard south of the Nashua
River, and at Ledge Street just to the
south of the Millyard. Auxiliary lanes
(left-turn lanes and, in some instances,
right turn lanes) would be present at all
intersections.
The design speed of the proposed
Broad Street Parkway is 40-50 miles per
hour, typical of a multi-lane suburban
arterial highway. The Parkway is a lim-
ited access roadway, with no fronting
properties having access to the road.
Access to adjacent properties is gained
through the three internal intersections
and the two terminus intersections.
The master plan team recognized the
two underlying strengths of the current
Broad Street proposal:
* It adds to the arterial street network.
Adding new street network is always
preferable to the alternate action of
widening the existing street network.
* It adds new street network in per-
haps the most useful alignment in
Nashua: i.e., north/south across the
Nashua River, thereby creating a par-
74
(tep}
Current inventory of
all one-way streets
shown in red
(bottom)
Through an
incremental process, 20
of the 47 one-way
streets can be converted.
Converted streets are
shown in red,
remaining one-way
streets are shown in red.
Nashua Downtown Master Plan
allel alternate route to the Main
Street crossing of the Nashua River,
one of the most problematical traffic
“bottlenecks” in the City.
* The proposed Parkway provides a
large increment of new access to the
Millyard district, enabling travel
between the Millyard and the north
side of the Nashua River without
requiring the use of Main Street.
However the Master Plan team
developed an alternative which better
meets the goals of the City and Down-
town.
Although in agreement with the funda-
mental premises of the Broad Street
Parkway, the Master Plan team identified
several challenges with the current
fundamentally at odds with the char-
acter of Nashua, and indeed with
cities in general. Limited access roads
are most appropriate where mobility
— higher speed travel over longer dis-
tance — is paramount. In contrast, the
primary purpose of arterial streets
within the city is access, i.e. distribu-
tion to as many intersecting streets
and fronting properties as possible,
and the provision of frequent oppor-
tunities for pedestrian crossings. The
limited access feature of the proposed
Broad Street Parkway, therefore, is
fundamentally at odds with the exist-
ing character of Nashua streets, and
with the desired character for new
streets within the system.
* Design Speed The proposed Broad
75
(bottom left}
The proposal provides a
bigh-speed link between
Broad Street and the
Millyard, but does little
for regional through-
tr
(bottom right}
The preferred
alternative will provide
access to redevelopment
properties and will
improve congestion at
design as proposed: Street Parkway has a design speed of Railroad Square created
* Road Type A limited access road is 40-50 miles per hour. This high by regional through
te
ny, ie,
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Broad Street oe Broad Street
ii Ci Exit 6
Exit 6
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Board of Aldermen — 1/26/16 Page 3
From: Brian S. McCarthy, President, Board of Aldermen
Re: Liaisons Appointments to the Nashua City Planning Board
MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND THAT THE BOARD OF
ALDERMEN WAIVE THE PROVISIONS OF NRO 5-9 B(4)(G), AND CONCUR WITH THE PRESIDENT’S
APPOINTMENT OF ALDERMAN MCGUINNESS AS PRIMARY AND ALDERMAN LOPEZ AS
ALTERNATE MEMBERS OF THE NASHUA CITY PLANNING BOARD
MOTION CARRIED
PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT RELATIVE TO ITEMS EXPECTED TO BE ACTED UPON THIS
EVENING - None
PETITIONS — None
NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS
Appointments by the Mayor
The following appointment by the mayor was read into the record:
Business & Industrial Development Authority
Lydia J. Foley (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 13, 2017
2 Bruce Street
Nashua, NH 03064
MOTION BY ALDERMAN CLEMONS TO ACCEPT THE APPOINTMENT SA READ AND REFER IT
TO THE PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
MOTION CARRIED
REPORTS OF COMMITTEE
Finance Committee. 2.0.0... cecccecccecceecceeeeececeeeeeeeeaeeraeereeeeeereeereeereees 01/20/16
There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the January 20, 2016
Finance Committee accepted and placed on file.
Substandard Living Conditions Special Committee... ee 01/19/16
There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the January 19, 2016
Substandard Living Conditions Special Committee accepted and placed on file.
WRITTEN REPORTS FROM LIAISONS - None
CONFIRMATION OF MAYOR'S APPOINTMENTS - None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS — RESOLUTIONS — None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS — ORDINANCES — None
DESIGN ASSOCIATES
design speed is incompatible with the
densely developed urban fabric (or
what should be such fabric) in the
road corridor. Design speeds in the
40-50 miles per hour range are
appropriate for suburban arterials, in
which mobility is the highest consid-
eration. For urban streets for which
access and urban street values are the
primary consideration, design speeds
of around half this amount (i.e., 25 to
30 miles-per-hour) are more appro-
priate.
Number of Lanes Four through
lanes of traffic, as proposed in the
current Broad Street Parkway design,
are far in excess of any need likely to
be generated by even the most opti-
mistic of downtown growth scenar-
ios. A two-lane roadway (one lane in
each direction) is, on the other hand,
fully adequate for all reasonable pro-
jections of downtown growth. For
example, a two-lane roadway would
accommodate downtown growth of
1.25 million square feet of new shop-
ping, or 1.74 million square feet of
new office, or 6,200 new downtown
dwelling units. These supportable
growths, or combinations of them,
are greatly in excess of any downtown
growth projections.
A cross section with four through
lanes translates to a cross section of
six lanes at most intersections, and
seven lanes at the “worst case” at
Ledge Street. Intersection widths of
this type are not only visually blight-
Nashua Downtown Master Plan
Diagnosis 76
(sop)
Traffic from Exits 6
and 7 is funnelled
through a dog-leg at
Railroad Square and a
single Merrimack
River crossing on East
Flollis Street.
Current Broad
Street Parkway
Proposal
(middle)
Proposed roadway
serves only Exit 6
ic to the Millyard.
Much traffic is still
funneled through
Railroad Square and
the single Merrimack
River crossing.
Alternative Pro-
posal Broad Street
Parkway
(bottom)
Exit 7 traffic takes the
Henri A, Burque
Highway across the
Merrimack River on a
new bridge. Exit 6
traffic crosses Railroad
Square in a “through
movement.”
UREAN
Broad Street Park-
way: “An armature
for everything”
Hf designed well, the
road can provide (A)
access to redevelopment
parcels, (B) connections
to a regional trail
system, (C) an
extension of a local trail
system, and (D}
improvements to signal
operations at Railroad
Square,
DESIGN ASSOCIATES
ing and out of character with the
City of Nashua, but they are ineffi-
cient for traffic operations, and hos-
tile to pedestrian and bicycle travel.
Lack of Address Value The pro-
posed limited access feature on the
proposed Parkway design means that
fronting properties cannot have an
“address” on the Parkway. At best,
properties can appear to front on the
Parkway, but must be reached from
side streets or parallel “frontage
roads.” The proposed limited access
feature of the Parkway, therefore, will
prevent the Parkway from ever
becoming an “armature” of develop-
ment in Nashua. Failure to realize
Nashua Downtown Master Plan
this potential is particularly disap-
pointing, given the currently unde-
veloped state of two prime
developable areas through which the
corridor passes: (1) the Millyard
south of the Nashua River and (2)
the currently undeveloped land on
the south side of the corridor near its
western terminus at Broad Street.
Lack of East/West Street
Connection Although the proposed
Broad Street Parkway design accom-
plishes the all-important north/south
connection across the Nashua River,
it does little to provide an additional
east/west connection on the north
side of the River. Such a connection
Greeley Parl
= Mai
adhe St
AAR
Nashua Downtown Master Plan
would be highly valuable in redirect-
ing east/west traffic now on Amherst
Street through Railroad Square to
other locations (most obviously, to
Franklin Street, thereby crossing
Main Street away from Railroad
Square).
Lack of Local Street Connections
To the south of the Nashua River
(ie., in the Millyard and in the Hol-
lis Street area), the Parkway termi-
nates in a dense network of small
local streets or street-like spaces in
the Millyard and the Tree Streets
Neighborhood. Rather than weaving
the Parkway into these streets, how-
ever, the proposed design obliterates
them, connecting only at one existing
street (Ledge Street) with a seven-
lane cross section, and at a large new
single intersection (five lane
approaches) in the Millyard.
Through Trips Although a stated
purpose of the proposed Broad Street
Parkway is the relief of through traf-
fic (i.e., traffic with neither origin nor
destination in Nashua), the road as
configured does not offer an impres-
sive source of relief. The major
through movements within Nashua
are not fundamentally north/south
movements, but rather east/west
movements, primarily between inter-
changes 5, 6 and 7 of the Everett
‘Turnpike and the single crossing
(Hollis Street) of the Merrimack
River. The currently proposed con-
figuration of the Broad Street Park-
way rearranges some of these move-
ments, particularly the movements
between Everett Turnpike inter-
changes 6 and 7 and the Hollis Street
crossing of the Merrimack River. The
proposed Parkway will permit the
rerouting of these movements (or
some of them) away from the con-
gested multi-leg intersection at Rail-
road Square, and redirect them
toward the new north/south river
crossing and then onto Hollis Street
and Kinsley Street. This rerouting of
traffic, however, may not have a large
benefit, since the same volume of
east/west traffic would still appear at
the critical bottleneck location at the
Hollis Street crossing of the Merri-
mack River.
Cost The cost of the proposed Board
Street Parkway ($60 million) is
extravagant and out of scale. Almost
all of the major street network (arte-
rial and collector street) within
Nashua is in need of major expendi-
ture for preservation and upgrading.
Reducing the scope of the proposed
Broad Street Parkway and redirecting
the “savings” in funds to other
needed projects throughout the City
would, in all likelihood, yield a far
greater level of return per dollar
expended.
Land Consumption The sweeping
curves, dictated by the higher design
speed of the proposed Parkway, con-
sume large amounts of land for the
roadway footprint itself, and further
