Transportation Committee (TC) meeting minutes, August 9, 2022

 Present: Mary Day Mordecai (chair), Barbara Watkins, Earl Horn, Erin Hammerstedt, Ned Hulbert, Alison Weber.

 Next Meeting:  Wednesday, Sept 7, 2022.   8:30-9:30 am at HHI office

School Radar update: We have had to do a lot of follow-up. Doug Walker’s solar tracker data on our proposed school radar locations suggested that these locations may not work for solar radar, in which case we will need to electrify the radars. We met at the site with Robert Hyslop of the NHDOT, who gave us input on the best radar locations. Traffic Logix, the radar vendor, has discussed with us the options for solar vs. electrification of the radars and has agreed to evaluate the viability of solar once we submit the solar tracker measurements and traffic volume data to him.

  • Radar Data Summary: Earl will produce a radar data summary from the Main St. and Route 137 radars by our next meeting. This data is needed as part of the follow-up report to MAST.  We will also share the report with the Planning Board and the Select Board.
  • MAST Presentation: Mary Day made a presentation on our work related to the two MAST grants at their annual meeting. We were interested to meet individuals representing SWRPC, Cheshire Medical Center and various local, regional, state bicycle and rails-to-trails organizations. 
  • 150th Celebration Booth: The TC shared a booth with Harrisville Trails because of our on-going collaboration. We were encouraged by: the number of people visiting the booth, engaging in conversation with us, filling out surveys, and buying trail maps. People expressed appreciation for the maps, trail markers, and speed radars. Many surveys were completed: 31 trail and 31 speed radars. Other suggestions/concerns were discussed on specific road issues.  Several people offered to help the TC.  We will follow up with these individuals. 
  • Follow-up on MAST grant: TC has already received 21 and 24 responses from our online trail/transportation survey and we will keep the survey on line for two more weeks. Alison will put out survey link cards at the General Store, Library and PO by Thursday, August 11. This data, along with the surveys from the booth, will be collated before our next meeting.  We will also summarize other input from citizens to help us frame next steps.  We plan to conduct a public meeting on the work related to the MAST grants and other transportation issues at the Town Library in October.
  • Discussion of possible next areas of focus: Is it time to reach out to other Trail Groups from abutting towns to improve connectivity of trails/road between towns and town centers? We thought a planning professional might be needed to facilitate such a project. Mary Day will follow-up with David Jackson (Town summer resident engineering/planning resource) on this and other ideas. 
  • SB is addressing Chesham Rd/Pond area speed limit concerns. Kathy called Mary Day to say that SB has contacted SWRPC for assistance in lowering the 40 mph section to 30 mph on Chesham Road, due to local resident’s concern.  SB will have follow-up talk with TC at upcoming SB meeting. 
  • Future MAST Grant possibilities – TC does not have energy/capacity now to apply for a MAST grant by the Sept 23, 2022 grant deadline. Mary Day will call Henry Underwood of SWRPC to report/discuss this.