Comments for Upper Valley Intermodal Facility Project

Comment on Local Impacts by jamespward

jamespward — Thu, 20 May 2010 15:02:10 +0000

i have heard the concerns of the Lebanon planning board, city council and public. There may be solutions to these legitimate concerns for a win/win. I offer them for your consideration. Please cut and past the click the following link for possible solutions and benefits.

http://control.cisdata.net/bin/filelink.php/AR118338/77a315884b59731f96af9d0da9518465/

Comment on Posting Public Comments by jamespward

jamespward — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:11:52 +0000

the city council, planning board and public have brought up some valid concerns regarding have the intermodal hub in Lebanon and specifically at the Densmore Brickyard.

I tried to address some concerns with possible win/win solutions. Please copy and paste on the link for the presentation.

http://control.cisdata.net/bin/filelink.php/AR118338/77a315884b59731f96af9d0da9518465/

Comment on Local Impacts by littlebro1716

littlebro1716 — Tue, 04 May 2010 23:09:46 +0000

oh yeah, i would also appreciate any staff comments if you have them

Comment on Local Impacts by littlebro1716

littlebro1716 — Tue, 04 May 2010 23:06:58 +0000

I have heard a lot of talk about the negative impacts that the ‘improvements’ would have in the area, and i would have to disagree with most of them.

First, as a high school student at LHS, I recognize the traffic problems on NH-120. It is not uncommon for it to take me over 20 minutes to get to the green if I leave anywhere between 5 and 6 (not uncommon being involved in many sports). I think is is frankly unacceptable to think that if we leave this situation alone it is going to go away. That’s why i think reconnecting Hanover street is a good idea, it provides another point where people can go (and with the majority of the high school students living in leb or west leb, i am sure they would agree with me).

Second, I find it hard to believe that reconnecting Hanover street by putting a bridge in would be as detrimental as some people say. I believe that one of the greatest benefits (as being a high school student) would be that, done right, it could really make the high school feel closer to town. Currently the high school feels disconnected from the town, and that would be an issue that could be resolved by providing more connection to the town itself. To those who say that traffic would be unacceptable, just think of how the Jr. High, Sem Hill, School Street, and Hanover High School deal with the traffic. 200% increase in traffic on Hanover Street would be more than welcome to me if it cut down my drive to the green by 15 minutes!

Third, I am optimistic that a transit center here would allow high school students to learn how to use public transit effectively and have it be a viable option for students (currently the bus schedules operating via the high school is really messed up, and not reliable. And the Red line, which serves leb, stops in downtown leb, aways away)

Lastly, I believe reconnecting the Hanover street bridge could provide the potential for revitalizing downtown. As a resident of Lebanon, it makes me sad when I see Hanover Street businesses move because they feel that this location is undesirable. (I believe) It comes down to visibility (traffic + pedestrian counts) and accessibility, and downtown Lebanon doesn’t have either of those (especially for those on the outside of lebanon). I believe that if this project moves forward, that the City Council should work with project officials to make this project benefit downtown Lebanon. Simply put, I believe this project could restore the vitality that downtown Lebanon once saw.

Comment on Local Impacts by g1norman

g1norman — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:28:52 +0000

The Lebanon Safe Routes to School Task Force discussed this project yesterday. We would like to note that we’ve been working diligently for the past year to develop the Hanover Street/Hanover Street Extension route to Hanover Street School as a Walking School Bus Route, with ~20 kids walking to school every Friday (and hopes for increasing this number. Today 160 kids and parents walked via this route). We hope that if this project goes forward that it be designed with consideration to how young children (K-4) will be able to safely cross through this area. Along with safety in the minds of planners, please note that “perception” of safety is a critical issue, as parents who perceive that safety is a concern simply will not allow their children to walk/bike to school. Best wishes.

Comment on Local Impacts by booboy

booboy — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:44:00 +0000

Have you estimated the cost in energy just to create a location? Tearing down old buildings; building a new building; energy costs to pave and make parking areas; impact of such pavement to the eco-system right there??? Have to pull a whole lot of cars off the highway to cover those costs, for sure.

Comment on Facility Location by booboy

booboy — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:42:05 +0000

You need to plan for a location that will serve cycling by staying away from being so close to any Interstate and by being in an area where there are cycle friendly streets.

Comment on Facility Location by littlebro1716

littlebro1716 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:25:57 +0000

The locations brought up were great, but in my mind there are only two options that would serve well as sucessful transit center. In my opinion, this transit center has to do a good job in providing good public transit options to Rt/120- DHMC corridor. Therefore the exit 18 options seem to be the only good options. If the development team can confirm that they will be able to get interstate acess to the Densmore Brickyard, I believe that would be the best option. Coupled with a busway/walking (open to all buses, AT, Dartmouth, School busses etc.) bridge where the current walking bridge is, a transit facility in that location could really change the landscape of public transit in our community. Advance Transit would experience a lot of time savings on their blue route (especially when coupled with the Mount Support road rehibilitation finishing this summer), and they could move their transfer center to this new facility (a decision that the court street building has been recommending). The red line then could serve the green, then connect with the blue line at the new center.

In third place would have to be the Hartford location, yet I believe this would not change the meaning of public transit in the Upper Valley due to its far off location from the DHMC corridor. It would most likely serve as a sucessful coach transit center, but i believe it won’t solve the traffic problems of the upper valley, or encourge public transit use.

The Carter Golf Course is a good location in itself, yet i believe that getting appoval to build on this site will be too troublesome (we already have seen it with their proposal to develop near the road).

The Westboro lot was a good idea, but i believe the politics of the lot, and its physical characteristics will make it impossible to ever build a transit center of size on that lot.

Comment on Regional Examples by sonke

sonke — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:19:19 +0000

The Portsmouth facility is far out of town, basically accessible by car only and serves primarily as a commuter and airport transportation hub for trips to Boston. It’s value beyond that, as a regional transfer point between modes and within modes (from one bus to another) for example, is minimal. I would call it a passenger aggregation facility at this point. It is very popular and heavily used. Free parking is a big draw.

Comment on Regional Examples by joplanner

joplanner — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:28:08 +0000

These examples are very helpful. Would it be possible to post more information about each of these sites? For example, it would be nice to know more about the site selection process including schedule (from site selection through design,permitting, construction & opening.) It would also be useful to have total acreage of each site, square footage & cost of building, and ownership/maintenance agreements. Another useful bit of data would be a user profile, daily bus trips and occupancy of parking space. Thanks.