== Bike-Walk Alliance of NH ==

August 2011: Memorial Bridge closed and NHPR show on bicycling

If you bike or walk in New Hampshire, there is something on this Bike-Walk Alliance of NH web site that should be of interest to you! There is so much activity here in the Granite State involving biking and walking it is difficult to write about all of it. However, let's get started!

Highlights of August 2011 news follow

Bicycling along the seacoast between Portsmouth NH and Kittery ME will be affected for years by the closing of the Memorial Bridge on the extremely popular coast route. On July 27, the bridge was closed to all motor vehicles due to severe deterioration and safety concerns while bike-ped traffic is to be allowed until November - provided the lift mechanism continues to function. After that, the bridge will be dismantled and a new $90M bridge will be constructed as a replacement but that will not be completed until mid-2014 at the earliest. Meanwhile, the other two Portsmouth-Kittery bridges (Sarah Long and I-95) do not presently allow bike-ped traffic. The next closest bridge is in Dover NH, a 28-mile detour. BWA-NH, other area advocates, NH-DOT, and Maine DOT are seeking a solution which will involve the Sarah Long Bridge which is on the Route 1 By-Pass. Shuttle service, escorted bike trains, and reconfiguring the 30-foot roadway to allow a 4-5 foot bike lane in each direction are all under consideration. Local bike and pedestrian commuters plus those with disabilities must be accommodated while large cycling events require far greater capacity than could be handled by a shuttle bus. Many discussions are underway but presently re-striping the lanes on the Sarah Long Bridge and lifting the restriction on bicycling seems to be gaining favor. A shuttle service may still be used for pedestrians and the disabled. Stay tuned for more details!

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Memorial Bridge, Portsmouth NH side looking toward Kittery ME.
September 25, 2010, GSW Seacoast Century Weekend with green lights.
Bridge closed, bike-ped crossings allowed, July 27, 2011, photo taken August 14.
Photos courtesy of Barbara Amos and Dave Topham.

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Memorial Bridge, August 14, 2011. Note the red lights.
As of November 2011, we expect no light, no bridge. Plague reads:
"Memorial to the Sailors and Soldiers of New Hampshire
who participated in the World War 1917-1919"

BWA-NH received a $600.00 Harvard Pilgrim Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant with thanks to employee Michael Hurst of Windham. The grant acknowledges our continued bicycling education efforts and particularly the "Train the Trainers" program as yet another way to help keep children active and safer while engaged in a possible life-long activity. A certificate signed by Karen Voci, Executive Director, and Laura Peabody, Chair, of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation may be viewed here.

We wish to publically thank the HPHC Foundation for their third annual mini-grant to BWA-NH, all initiated by Michael Hurst who is a BWA-NH member and a certified League Cycling Instructor. Our bike-ed programs are viewed as being beneficial to the communities served and we are certainly appreciative of the support from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation.

NH Public Radio via "The Exchange" with Laura Knoy aired an informative program on bicycling in NH on August 1. NH-DOT Bike-Ped Coordinator Larry Keniston and BWA-NH Director Dave Topham fielded various questions including why NH dropped from # 6 to 14 in the 2011 Bicycle Friendly State ranking by the League of American Bicyclists. Quick answer: Other states improved their scores, maybe by tenths of a point, and had more dedicated state funding for bike-ped projects than NH. Note that NH scored an "A" in the Education and Encouragement categories but an "F" in Infrastructure which includes funding. Our Granite State is still a great place to bicycle and the roads have not become less "bike friendly", but we hope for some improvements to be reflected in the 2012 national ratings.

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Larry Keniston, Laura Knoy, and Dave Topham
on the NHPR "The Exchange" show, August 1, 2011

NH Rail Trail Coalition (NH-RTC) annual conference will be held November 12, 2011 in Concord at the SHC-NNE / BWA-NH office, 57 Regional Drive. Rail trail organizations and advocates from around the state will participate and learn a lot about recent developments, projects, and funding issues. Keynote speakers are expected to be Keene Mayor Dale Pregent and Carl Knoch of the Rails to Trails Conservancy. For more info and to register, please visit our Rail Trails page. (NH-RTC is affiliated with BWA-NH.)

Methuen (MA) Rail Trail Alliance (MRTA) announced work along the old Boston & Maine Manchester to Lawrence rail corridor leading into Salem is expected to start in September with services provided by the Iron Horse Preservation Society (IHPS) - at no cost for the basic rail trail construction. BWA-NH has been attempting to coordinate efforts between IHPS, Salem, and NH-DOT to have similar work performed in NH; hopefully right after IHPS completes work in Methuen.

Derry Rail Trail Alliance (DRTA) announced the section of their trail from Bowers Road to Windham Depot should be paved by October. This will provide a paved rail trail from downtown Derry to the Windham Depot to Roulston Road, just 0.6 mile from Salem. That remaining 0.6 mile of the Windham Rail Trail goes over the new Rt. 111 bike-ped bridge and should be paved next year under a TE grant awarded in 2010. Trail-side parking at the southern terminus near Range Road and Route 28 (Windham-Salem town line) has been approved.

Central NH Bicycling Coalition (CNHBC) and BWA-NH are actively pursuing a statewide web-based incident reporting system for cyclists to record incidents of harassment, "close calls", and crashes involving motorists and bicyclists. All too often, a motorist or their passenger seems to think a vulnerable bicyclist should be a target for thrown objects, blaring horns, verbal abuse, or being forced off the road even when the cyclist is following all rules. Presently, if an incident occurs in one town and the same car harasses a bicyclist in the next town minutes later, even if both incidents are reported to the local police departments there is no communication between them about the common perpetrator so no action is taken. By having a common reporting system, a pattern of a few related incidents even if in different towns should result in police action. The NH-DMV, State Police, Police Academy instructors, and the Concord Chief of Police will be meeting with CNHBC and BWA-NH to help implement this reporting system and consider better enforcement of the rules of the road pertaining to both cyclists and motorists. Bicyclists can be their own worst enemy on shared roadways that demand all users follow the rules and respect each other. A little common sense and courtesy can go a long way! (CNHBC is affiliated with BWA-NH.)

Bicycling education in NH continues to make progress with another 12-hour LAB "Traffic Skills 101" course scheduled for September in the Concord area. Paula Bedard, a certified LAB Cycling Instructor, is the coordinator. For details, please check the TS-101 page.

Meanwhile, both classroom and on-bike training for elementary school students continues, mostly under local Safe Routes to School (SRTS) grant programs. A "Train the Trainers" program offered by BWA-NH to train and certify school phys-ed teachers, coaches, nurses, and other staff members to be LAB "Bicycling 1-2-3 Youth Instructors" so they can conduct LAB-designed bike-ed courses year after year in their schools for grades 4 and 5 is being implemented. We currently have training sessions scheduled in Gorham, Warner, and Concord NH. This "TTT" program is funded by a SRTS grant to BWA-NH therefore it is free for the schools on a first-come, first served basis. Please contact the BWA-NH office for details: info@bwanh.org, 603.898.9926.

Another form of bicycling education is available in the form of videos linked from the BWA-NH web site. New videos developed in other states apply to NH as well with emphasis on bicyclist and motorist interactions and sharing the roads. On-road vehicular cycling techniques, handling a mountain bike in rugged terrain including how to fall, and multiple videos on bike maintenance are all just a few clicks away at www.BWANH.org

NH-DOT Safe Routes to School program announces nearly $1 million in Round 5 awards: These federal reimbursement grants will help 10 New Hampshire communities enable and encourage school children to walk and/or ride bicycles between home and school. The program is geared for children in kindergarten through eighth grade, including those with disabilities, who live within approximately two miles of school.
The largest awards went to Pittsfield, $260,668 for sidewalks and traffic calming. Troy was awarded $249,500 for a sidewalk as well as educational and incentive items. Littleton was awarded $206,680 for sidewalk reconstruction and traffic calming.
"When I visited Littleton when their program was just beginning, I was impressed to see walking school buses and rolling bike trains converge on the elementary school from multiple directions," observed John W. Corrigan, SRTS coordinator for NHDOT. "The community is an excellent example of how the initiative of volunteers and local school and municipal leaders can make a huge difference in getting kids out of private motor vehicles in favor of safe walking and bicycling."

Other communities given awards include: Lebanon, $97,128; Bristol, $77,681; Hillsborough, $55,599; Durham $30,751; Manchester, $10,000; Northumberland, $8,000; and Nashua, $4,600.

BWA-NH is pleased to be one of ten voting members on the SRTS advisory committee to help ensure the interest of all bicyclists and pedestrians are considered in projects funded by this Federal grant program.

BWA-NH Executive Director bikes the Southern Tier -- alone! Our own Linda Gould decided to take a bike ride by herself, a mere 2,275 miles from Phoenix AZ to St. Augustine FL between March and May this year. Please see Linda's page for her write-up and a few photos. Be sure to read the last sentence!

In case you missed the BWA-NH June updates, here they are:

Distracted Driving Simulators hit the NH schools

In addition to many bike-ed presentations to students in the NH elementary schools, high school students have started receiving awareness training in distracted driving and driving under the influence.

The two computerized Distracted Driving Simulators as unveiled at the NH Highway Safety Conference in April have been used in several school districts with excellent reports. The Timberlane Regional High School in Plaistow was the first in the state to use the simulators with about 200 students taking two or more tests. Distracted driving induced by cell phone use (talking or texting) and driving under the influence were simulated with student comments including "I got in an accident pretty quick. I rear-ended a car and lost my license." "I hit a deer. Then they did a drunk test, put me in a police car and took me to jail." This was not a game being played by the students. One commented how he lost his brother to drunk driving.

Jim Esdon of the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center is the program manager. The units were slated for use in Sanborn and Seabrook before the end of the school year. As of June 1, over 500 students have been tested. BWA-NH will be involved in the logged results of the tests recorded by the two simulators and help maintain the units as more and more schools and organization use the machine which proves that distracted driving leads to crashes - and that no one is immune from being distracted. For more information, please contact BWA-NH at info@bwanh.org.

Bicycling education in NH continues to make progress with another 12-hour LAB "Traffic Skills 101" course scheduled for September in the Concord area. Paula Bedard, a certified LAB Cycling Instructor, is the coordinator. For details, please check the Traffic Skills 101 page on this web site.

Meanwhile, both classroom and on-bike training for elementary school students continues, mostly under local Safe Routes to School (SRTS) grant programs. Approximately 385 students plus teachers at the Dr. Crisp Elementary School in Nashua attended the training sessions on May 26. The on-bike session is to be held June 11. A "Train the Trainers" program offered by BWA-NH to train and certify school phys-ed teachers, coaches, nurses, and other staff members to be LAB "Bicycling 1-2-3 Youth Instructors" so they can conduct LAB-designed bike-ed courses year after year in their schools for grades 4 and 5 is being implemented. A seminar for teachers in the North Country is being planned for October 12. This "TTT" program is funded by a SRTS grant awarded to BWA-NH therefore it is free for the schools on a first-come, first served basis. Please contact the BWA-NH office for details: info@bwanh.org, 603.898.9926.

New LAB rankings for New Hampshire

The City of Keene received the Bronze LAB Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) award on May 2. Many local bike-ped advocates, organizations, and rail trail groups helped the city obtain this notable award. Keene now joins Concord as the second community in the state to receive recognition as a "BFC" by the League of American Bicyclists.

At the state level, on May 18 the LAB 2011 Bicycle Friendly State (BFS) ranking for New Hampshire gave us # 14 out of 50 with an overall grade of "C" versus # 6 last year, # 8 in 2009, and # 10 in 2008. This does not imply that bicycling conditions have declined in the state, but other states have been doing more to earn more points in the scoring process. A key factor affecting many states is the "Infrastructure" criteria for which NH scored an "F". Actual condition of roads, bike paths, rail trails, etc. in use did not mean as much in the scoring as the percentage of Federal money allocated for same from sources like the Transportation Enhancement (TE), Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ), and Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). A complete breakdown of the NH scores by the LAB follows.

-- B in Legislation
-- B in Policies & Programs
-- F in Infrastructure
-- A in Education & Encouragement
-- C in Evaluation & Planning
-- A in Enforcement

Meanwhile, our neighboring Northern New England states went up in their new BFS scores. Maine went from 3 to 2 and Vermont went from 36 to 15. The top five states in the country are Washington, Maine, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New Jersey. All the scores are relatively subjective based on criteria set by the LAB national office and some of the scores have been challenged by various states, but take it as it is: there is room for improvement in New Hampshire!

2011 Commute Green NH program a success

Some figures have yet to be recorded, but over 62,000 miles were not driven in single-occupancy cars during Commute Green Week of May 16-20. That is like taking six cars off the road for a full year!

The mileage breakdown by method of travel for Commute Green week follows with more to come:

-- Carpooling: 36,367
-- Bicycling: 4,579
-- Walking: 958
-- Transit: 13,158
-- Telecommuting: 6,968

-- Total: 62,030 miles

7th Annual Safe Kids 500 held Tuesday, May 3 at the Loudon race track

This very popular event allows kids (and everyone else) to bicycle around the famous NASCAR track in Loudon only with safety in mind, not speed. The event is sponsored by the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth while many organizations including BWA-NH support the effort and have display tables to highlight their programs. All bicyclists are required to wear a helmet and they are fitted (or provided at low cost) prior to cycling on the one-mile oval race track. Bike are checked and minor repairs performed by the expert mechanics from S&W Sports of Concord. The May 3 event was very well attended with nearly 500 kids participating -- and it did not rain!

Rail Trail progress

Users of the paved sections of the Derry and Windham rail trails can't wait until the centers of Derry and Salem are connected. Derry expects to pave their section from Bowers Road to the Windham Depot this summer. For the same Manchester-Lawrence railroad corridor extending south through Salem and into Methuen, MA, discussions are underway between the Methuen Rail Trail Alliance, City of Methuen, Iron Horse Preservation Society (IHPS), NH-DOT, and the Town of Salem with BWA-NH helping to arrange critical meetings in Concord. The concept of IHPS building a useable rail trail at no cost in exchange for old railroad material is a new concept for New Hampshire so new guidelines must be established before any work is done. At this time, IHPS is likely to start work in Methuen this summer and would certainly benefit all parties concerned if they are allowed to continue north along the M&L corridor into Salem. A five-way meeting on May 12 set a precedent -- this was the first time NH-DOT, IHPS, Salem, Methuen, and BWA-NH representatives got together to discuss options of interest to the Southern NH Rail Trail Alliance if not the statewide NH Rail Trails Coalition as well. To prove we really did see each other, a couple photos follow.

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Left to right: Bill Scott, Salem Community Development Director; "Kit" Morgan, NH-DOT Bureau
of Rail and Transit Administrator; Joyce Godsey, Methuen Rail Trail Alliance President; Joe Hattrup,
Iron Horse Preservation Society CEO, and Larry Keniston. NH-DOT Bike-Ped Coordinator.
Meeting held May 12, 2011 at NH-DOT, Concord.
(Photos by Dave Topham, BWA-NH.)

Did you see the BWA-NH May updates? If not, here you go!

National Bike Month started in 1956 by the League of American Bicyclists

What started as Bike to Work Day by the LAB in 1956 (then the League of American Wheelmen) on the third Friday in May has since expanded into Bike to Work Week and finally the entire month of May as now called National Bike Month. Many states including NH have further expanded the basic concept to include walking, carpools, public transit, trains, and even telecommuting as means to avoid the use of single occupancy cars for commuting and all utilitarian trips when possible. By going "green", saving gas, pollution, money, and traffic headaches while obtaining some exercise via "active transportation" helps everyone and the environment.

Here in NH, the 2011 Commute Green NH program is well underway with a new web site, many coupons and giveaways, and a chance for you to log your "green miles" as either an individual or part of a corporate team. BWA-NH is a statewide supporter of the program and is donating a collection of sponsorships, LED flashers, reflective leg bands, pens, bumper stickers, and helmet stickers as giveaways. For more information and to register, please visit www.commutegreennh.org.

AAA of Northern New England promotes sharing the road with bicycists in their latest newsletter. Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire are covered in one article which was compiled after AAA's Pat Moody spoke with the bike advocacy groups in each state. If you don't have that newsletter, you can check out the two page article here for page one and here for page two.

7th Annual Safe Kids 500, Tuesday, May 3 at the Loudon race track

This very popular event allows kids (and everyone else) to bicycle around the famous NASCAR track in Loudon only with safety in mind, not speed. The event is sponsored by the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth while many organizations including BWA-NH support the effort and have display tables to highlight their programs. All bicyclists are required to wear a helmet and they are fitted (or provided at low cost) prior to cycling on the one-mile oval race track. Bike are checked and minor repairs performed by the expert mechanics from S&W Sports of Concord. For more details, please see the event flyer.

NH received two Distracted Driving Simulators in April

The NH Highway Safety Conference in Meredith had distracted driving as the main theme with multiple presentations and demonstrations proving that drivers cannot safety drive and talk/text on cell phones even if hands-free devices are used such as Bluetooth headsets. There are many possible distractions while driving including eating, changing radio stations, checking a GPS unit, etc. but cell phone use leads the way as the most distracting. Just talking on a cell phone increases the risk of a crash by four times - about the same as a drunk driver with a .08 BAC. Texting while driving increases the risk by eight. Drivers seemingly "must" use their phones while driving to the point of being addicted as proven by extensive tests including brain scans. Most drivers acknowledge there is a risk factor but "they" are better than others who are talking and texting while driving. And even with the NH anti-texting law, enforcement is a problem as usually nothing is done until after a crash when cell phone records are examined - and the victims are examined in a hospital or a morgue.

What can we do? While certainly there is no one answer, better education and awareness can help. BWA-NH was instrumental in the NH Highway Safety Agency and the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth obtaining two Distracted Driving Simulators (DDS). The computerized and portable devices will be taken into schools and public places to allow drivers of all ages to learn for themselves that they are really not good at driving safely when playing with their cell phone. The simulators run a program called "One Simple Decision" - and it really gets the point across: simply do not talk or text when driving. Multitasking may sound like a good idea and many people feel they do it very well. Unfortunately, the statistic and deaths prove otherwise.

During May, a core group of safety professionals will be trained on the DDS by the Injury Prevention Center in Lebanon on the set-up, use, and database logging so they can train others who will be able to borrow the units at no charge for up to a week at a time. When not in use, one unit will be stored in Lebanon at the IPC office, then second stored in Concord at the Safety and Health Council of Northern New England office where BWA-NH rents space and services. The goal is to greatly increase the awareness of NH drivers of distracted driving so they will change their habits before causing a serious crash. Bicyclists and pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users with distracted drivers being a severe risk which is increasing every year for the past decade or more. The DDS units are but one way we hope to address this serious issue.

Please see our Distracted Driving page for details and photos.

Bicycling Education efforts continue

With May being National Bike Month and the school year winding down, many schools are holding bike-ed classes with the help of certified LAB Cycling Instructors and the BWA-NH "Train the Trainer" program. School personnel are very thankful for the efforts and comprehensiveness of the program, especially when the on-bike sessions are included. A recent LAB "Kids-II" class for grades K-5 at the Canterbury Elementary School is but one example of another success story.

For adults wishing to hone their on-road cycling skills, a second LAB "Traffic Skills 101" course is scheduled for the Concord area this September. Please see our Traffic Skills-101 page for details.

Canterbury Elementary School sign announcing bike event, April 16, 2011

About 1/4 of Canterbury Elementary School students in bike-ed class, April 15, 2011

Canterbury Elementary School students practicing straight-line starts/stops

Rail Trail progress

Paperwork for the Derry-Windham-Salem tri-town TE grant for $1.2M as awarded in 2010 continues to move forward but a pace not likely to see any construction until 2012. Users of the paved sections of the Derry and Windham rail trails can't wait until the centers of Derry and Salem are connected. For the same Manchester-Lawrence railroad corridor extending south through Salem and into Methuen, MA, discussions are underway between the Methuen Rail Trail Alliance, City of Methuen, Iron Horse Preservation Society (IHPS), NH-DOT, and the Town of Salem with BWA-NH helping to arrange critical meetings in Concord. The concept of IHPS building a useable rail trail at no cost in exchange for old railroad is a new concept for New Hampshire so new guidelines must be established before any work is done. At this time, IHPS is likely to start work in Methuen this summer and would certainly benefit all parties concerned if they are allowed to continue north along the M&L corridor into Salem. Our June BWA-NH update will carry news of the meetings, hopefully with good results to report.

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