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.”
