Graham, Donna
From: Don Sherwood
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2022 9:36 AM
To: Board of Aldermen
Ce: Graham, Donna; Cummings, Tim
Subject: Main Street Barriers
Attachments: Main Street Barriers.pdf
CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
unknown.
Feb 8, 2022
Subject: Main St. Barriers
Dear Alderman,
lam a long time Nashua resident (54 years) writing to express my opposition to extending the
use of barriers on Main St. for the next 3 years. My reasons are as follows:
Safety: Reducing the north / south travel lanes along Main St. from 2 lanes to 1 lane has
resulted in considerable traffic congestion and delays, particularly during rush hours. In
emergency situations, any delay will increase the arrival time of critical fire or ambulance
services to reach their destination, with potentially life-altering outcomes.
| often travel Main St. On several occasions, | have witnessed cars attempting to parallel park
in the few open areas without barriers. Some stop in the single travel lane, to back into the
parking space. This stops traffic movement in the one open lane, frustrating people just
wanting to get from one end of town to the other. In one incident, a car actually entered the
opposite travel lane just to get around this situation a bit quicker, a very dangerous action.
Fairness: The parking barriers that were installed in the right-hand lanes along Main St. gave
restaurants a unique opportunity to add additional tables for patrons to enjoy outside dining,
particularly to comply with covid restrictions. The increased traffic congestion and loss of
parking spaces untimely had a negative impact of reducing the pedestrian foot traffic that
other merchants along Main St. rely on to stay viable. It is not at all fair for the city to allow
variances that benefit only a few businesses at the expense of others. This practice should not
be continued.
Need: It appears that covid is evolving from a pandemic to a more routinely handled endemic
type situation that will not require special consideration for Main St. restaurants, eliminating
the need for barriers.
