Money is main obstacle as solution to Meredith traffic woes nears Consensus

[Rusty]

Three roundabouts in the little Village of Meredith...too funny!

People who will be visiting Meredith in the summer will be going in circles wondering where they need to get off each roundabout. They will be saying: Where the heck am I????

[Pineedles]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Three roundabouts in the little Village of Meredith...too funny!

People who will be visiting Meredith in the summer will be going in circles wondering where they need to get off each roundabout. They will be saying: Where the heck am I????

The nice thing about a roundabout is if you miss your exit, you get to miss it an infinite number of times, as you go round n round again n again.

[Pineedles]

In all seriousness, I looked at the map posted, and it looks like a good solution. Thanks WBB for the link.

[Meredith AK]

I work in Laconia and live on Pleasant St in Meredith. I poo-poo'd the traffic circle on Rt 3 / 106 (Parade Rd) when it first went in. However, especially on a Friday evening, it has made my commute back to Meredith a very simple one vs. waiting and "playing chicken" with others coming down the hill on Rt 3 North.
Trying to leave Pleasant St. in the summer is next to impossible if you want to head towards town. I normally take a right, then pull into the Hannaford parking lot and exit towards town from there. The roundabout would be better than another traffic light and if it works as slick as the one on Rt 3 / 106, I'm all for it.

[Rusty]

IMO it will help the pedestrian flow but it might slow down the traffic flow.

I assume the pedestrians have the right away at each roundabout and the flow of autos will come to a halt each time someone uses the crosswalk.

Tourist season should be interesting.

Roundabouts can be good for auto traffic as long as crosswalks don't slow things down.

[Happy Gourmand]

I agree with Rusty. It seems like the crosswalks are a bit close to the roundabout exits and should make for some unwanted excitement. Many drivers will be watching for traffic signs designating their wanted exit and will not be expecting pedestrian traffic so close to the exits. My thought is that the crosswalk on the Southbound exit on Rte 3 should be eliminated from this plan and ped traffic be made to cross at the boat ramp area.
The plan as they have outlined now will create a huge jam in the roundabout itself, but this project may be years away and I'm sure these issues will be dealt with.

[Just Sold]

After looking at the plan it seems to help with vehicle traffic flow for most of the time. But, what I see as the big issue is the crossing guards by the park and boat ramp because there will be no improvement to the traffic flow no matter how many round-a-bouts they build if the guards stay. The guards with the high volume of pedestrians are the biggest part of the problem on weekends when the traffic is at its highest. They need to come up with a better solution to getting the pedestrians across the street and keep traffic flowing.

[PaugusBayFireFighter]

Something like this could work.

[jeffk]

It seems to me there are going to be LOTS of accidents because the nature of roundabouts is to keep traffic moving. Once in it, people do not expect it to stop. Yet here it will because pedestrian crossings will require it to. People will enter the roundabout and then have to stop but won't expect to.

[brk-lnt]

There is a company out of Finland that is prototyping a pedestrian slingshot for high congestion areas. You get in a "basket" of sorts and it flings you over the intersection to a hydraulic platform on the other side that catches the basket and slows the momentum gently. It's also ADA compliant because you can roll a wheelchair in/out of the basket smoothly. I hear Meredith is going to have a temporary/demo unit setup during bike week.

[ishoot308]

What about a walkway bridge OVER the traffic?? I'm sure it wouldn't be cheap but seems like a viable solution... Oh yeah, someone will complain about the view...:-(

Dan

[PaugusBayFireFighter]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

What about a walkway bridge OVER the traffic?? I'm sure it wouldn't be cheap but seems like a viable solution... Oh yeah, someone will complain about the view...:-(

Dan

Dan, this was their response to the idea of a tunnel or footbridge.

http://www.meredith3-25.com/

7. WHAT WILL BE DONE ABOUT PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS?
Each of the roundabouts will have pedestrian crosswalks. Each will be designed so that pedestrians will have to cross only one lane of traffic at a time and DOT believes that the slower traffic speeds through the roundabouts will permit pedestrians to safely cross without causing significant traffic delays. Also, a crosswalk will be placed at Dover St., but pedestrians will cross only one lane of Route 3 before reaching a center island and then crossing another single lane. Traffic will not have to stop in both directions at one time. A pedestrian tunnel and a bridge were considered and rejected as there is not enough space for graded walkways compliant with disabilities laws and both installation and town maintenance of these facilities would involve significant expense.

[BroadHopper]

I bet they have not seen the walkway in front of the main lodge. I don't see how much real estate they nee to put one in if the ramps are perpendicular with the walkway.

[HellRaZoR004]

I doubt a bridge over the road would work unless you put up fences to keep people from jaywalking.

[fatlazyless]

Taking a left off Pleasant St, and onto Route 25, just across from the BarnZ Cinema in the summer, what with all the traffic, and those summer only - super skinny, yellow DOT hgwy cones is probably the single most dangerous traffic accident spot in the area. That is an accident just waiting to happen there, and can sometimes require mucho mucho lots of patience when there's five or more cars waiting at the GREEN light for the traffic to move forward there.

Re-constructing it into a roundabout will be a big big traffic safety improvement, plus it creates a new roundabout center spot for a decorative garden there too ..... what's not to like ... plus it's like 5-million dollars of federal, U.S. Dept Transportation gov money.... for all three new Meredith roundabouts ... and maybe zero local Meredith money .... after years and years of discussion! Viva Las Roundabout!

Here's to using the same similar large granite cobble blocks that were used in the first Meredith roundabout a-top Sunset Hill, as opposed to using the dumb ugly, smooth concrete apron that got used at the Laconia-Weirs Beach roundabout.

[Happy Gourmand]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Taking a left off Pleasant St, and onto Route 25, just across from the BarnZ Cinema in the summer, what with all the traffic, and those summer only - super skinny, yellow DOT hgwy cones is probably the single most dangerous traffic accident spot in the area. That is an accident just waiting to happen there, and can sometimes require mucho mucho lots of patience when there's five or more cars waiting at the GREEN light for the traffic to move forward there.

Re-constructing it into a roundabout will be a big big traffic safety improvement, plus it creates a new roundabout center spot for a decorative garden there too ..... what's not to like ... plus it's like 5-million dollars of federal, U.S. Dept Transportation gov money....and maybe zero local Meredith money! Viva Las Roundabout!

Here's to using the same similar large granite cobble blocks that were used in the first Meredith roundabout a-top Sunset Hill, as opposed to using the dumb ugly, smooth concrete apron that got used at the Laconia-Weirs Beach roundabout.

5 million here...another 5 million there...and pretty soon you're talking about a lot of OUR money.