A recent study has idenfitied five areas in Nashua that are stressing out bikers. The Nashua Regional Planning Commission tested the Nashua's streets for bicycle-friendliness over the past few months as part of the Plan4Health Nashua "Complete Streets" project. The commission's analysis identified five areas within the city—including the tree streets and French Hill neighborhoods—that have high Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) scores, indicating they are less bicycle-friendly. These five neighborhoods represent 50 percent of Nashua's population, and include areas with the greatest social, economic, and environmental disparities according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
"What this project is trying to do is look at the level of traffic stress and answer questions such as where are people going, where do they want to go, how stressful is it, and what strategic, low-cost improvements can be made to make walking and bicycling less stressful," says Nicholas Coates, active living coordinator of HEAL NH, an initiative of the Foundation for Healthy Communities in Concord.LTS looks at how stressed people might feel on the road when riding a bicycle rather than "Level of Service," an approach that focuses on moving vehicles efficiently. Several criteria are taken into consideration when calculating the LTS score, including the presence of a bike lane, street and shoulder width, traffic signals, if there is a median or pedestrian island in a cross street, speed limit, and on-street parking.
The method was first used last year in NH as part of a NH Department of Transportation pilot project. For the Plan4Health Nashua project, an LTS score was given to every street and road, approach, and intersection in Nashua to help determine how easy or difficult it is for bicyclists to get around the city. In addition to the quantifiable data the LTS methodology provide, scores can be adjusted for other variables that commonly affect a bicyclist's comfort level, including lighting and overall feeling of safety, pavement conditions, steep hills, and traffic volumes.
Coates says the team is now working with NeighborWorks Southern NH to bring the maps to the residents and businesses of the five neighborhoods to see if the LTS data matches the public sentiment regarding stressful areas. "These stressful street crossings around the city are barriers to people choosing to walk or bicycle to get around," Coates says. "Broken links to the city's active transportation networks can make neighborhoods feel like isolated islands and prohibit people from being more physically active."
This project is part of the "Complete Streets" movement. More than 700 U.S. towns, cities, counties, regions, and states have made official commitments to Complete Streets policies, including four NH communities: Concord, Dover, Keene, and Portsmouth.
Current Issue - May 2024