Aldermen hold off for now on Pine Street bike lane

MANCHESTER, NH – A plan to create a new bike lane out of an existing car lane on Pine Street from Bridge to Webster Street has been tabled by the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen Committee on Public Safety, Health and Traffic.

Ward 1 Alderman Chris Morgan proposed the motion to table the request, which was approved by the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen in 2019 and was scheduled to take place at the next scheduled resurfacing and re-striping of that area of Pine Street, which is pending for this summer.

Similar transitions of travel lanes from usage by cars to bikes were finalized in nearby one-way streets between Bridge and Webster Street during street re-striping and paving in recent years.

Ward 10 Alderman Bill Barry said he has heard that this change on nearby streets has helped cyclist safety and Ward 2 Alderman Dan Goonan said that it has helped the safety of drivers who park and are exiting their cars on those streets. Manchester Department of Public Works Chief Highway Engineer Caleb Dobbins said that accidents had decreased in that area following the changes.

In an exchange between Ward 6 Alderman Crissy Kantor and Dobbins, Kantor questioned the need for bicycle lanes, saying she does not see bicycles when she drives.

Kantor to Dobbins: “How many bikers did you see on the way here?”

Dobbins: “Did I see on the way here? Um, well, it was raining out. I didn’t see a whole lot.”

Kantor: “Yeah, I drive all the time. I never see bicycles, and I hear from so many people, we do not see the bicycles, and it’s so dangerous at those intersections, but the beginning of Maple Street at the end of Maple Street, constituents aren’t that happy with them. So there’s a lot of people that are not for the bike lanes. I just, I mean, to me, the flow of traffic is really important and to make sure people’s safety is good, too. I mean, I think we should be taking care of the sidewalks.”

Dobbins: “I don’t believe bicycles are able to use it on a sidewalk. And, relative to the study that was done when Maple was switched over, the number of accidents that occurred, after the implementation of the bike lane, actually was a reduction.”

Kantor: “Maybe that’s the case, but I do know on Hanover Street we have accidents all the time, getting on to 93, and what I find unbelievable is the police do not make a record of all the accidents unless they are over a certain amount of money, so not everything is recorded, so the the data is not really actually factual. That’s the problem. I think that we need more people, more concerned citizens, to come to this committee to talk about things because I mean, it’s just. I don’t see the bicycles.”

Ward 11 Alderman Norm Vincent asked about the cost of the lane changes on Pine Street, with Dobbins saying the cost would be negligible if the change occurs while construction crew is resurfacing the area.

Kantor said that if there are unsafe drivers in the area, the Manchester Police Department Traffic Division could issue tickets.

“You know, people concerned about the speeding and so forth? I mean, we can create a revenue stream of ticketing more people to control the speeding. You know, when there’s consequences, people do slow down,” to which Dobbins noted that is outside the purview of DPW.

Currently the police department is well short of its full roster complement, with the traffic division one of the hardest hit areas in terms of staffing.

Later in the discussion, when Morgan prepared to call for a vote on the motion, Kantor added that when it comes to bike lanes her constituents “think it’s a joke.”

With the disagreement on the committee, Morgan said that it would make sense to create a roundtable of all stakeholders to determine the best path moving forward. Dobbins advised such a process be done quickly or construction schedules on the street would need to be altered.

Kantor, Morgan and Vincent voted in favor of the tabling motion while Barry and Goonan voted in opposition.

The full meeting can be viewed here via Manchester Public TV. The discussion about the bike lanes begins at 1:35 seconds into the meeting (Item 2 on the agenda). During initial discussion Morgan immediately called for the formation of a committee to come up with a master bike plan for the city.

In February of 2024 a proposal that would have created a formal study to look at a citywide bike lane master plan was discussed by the board but the initiative did not gain traction.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include more transcribed conversation to clarify comments made during the meeting.