11`$`#"1 - The Monadnock Shopper News

Say You Saw it in The Monadnock Shopper News, September 21 – September 27, 2016
29
Troy Creates Safer Streets For Residents Time to Schedule Your Fall Tune-Up
Town Is Third In Region To Adopt A “Complete Streets” Policy
Small towns are all over the map when it comes creative ideas to slow down traffic on busy Route 12
to pedestrian and bicycle friendly elements: Some that intersects the town, noted Matson.
are lined with sidewalks, benches, bike lanes – while
“People don’t pay attention to a 25-mile-per-hour
others don’t even offer crosswalks.
sign, but they do read a ‘Children at Play’ or humorWhen you consider that those who live in small ous signs,” said Matson. The town is considering
towns do not typically have in-town access to exercise installing eye-catching signs to get drivers to pay
facilities – such as a YMCA, a skate park, bicycle trails attention to the “25 MPH” signs, including signage
– it makes sense for towns to create an environment that says “Slow: Children Playing with Dogs Ahead”
for families, children, the elderly, to have safe places and “Slow Down for Chickens.”
to walk, exercise, and socialize.
Offsetting Costs
This was exactly the thinking behind Troy’s recent
Any new road projects that come up must take the
adoption of a “Complete Streets” policy, said William guidelines into consideration and discussed among
T. (“Tom”) Matson, the chair of the board of selectmen townspeople at the yearly Town Meeting in March.
of Troy. The tiny town now has a policy in place to
The ongoing concern would be how this new polconsider all of its 2145 residents – not just motor- icy will be perceived by townspeople, who may fear
ized vehicles – when improving roadways. Troy is the extra cost of Complete Streets elements including
the third town in the Monadnock Region to adopt extra sidewalks, sharrows, crosswalks, etc.
a Complete Streets policy; Keene and Swanzey also
“Some people don’t understand the ‘Complete
have Complete Streets policies now in place.
Streets’ concept and fear the cost … but when it is
Sidewalks Inspire Town
explained, and people understand that it builds
Five years ago, the town received a “Safe Routes to community and helps keep everyone safe, there is
School” grant to build sidewalks for children to walk buy-in,” says Matson.
to school. Town officials immediately saw the benefits
Town officials plan to apply for grants to help
of getting foot traffic off busy roads and wanted to offset costs, and to spread any improvements out over
extend these benefits to the general population of the time to make it affordable to residents.
town, including connecting the town’s new commu“We only have 19 miles of road in Troy. It is an
nity center to the downtown area.
achievable goal to have all streets fall under Complete
“My main worry is that we have a lot of young Streets,” says Matson. “To hit it can take 20-30 years,
mothers out with their baby carriages,” said Matson. but as long as written in a policy, I think it can be
“That’s when we started to get concerned and started accomplished.”
looking for ways to make
it safe for them to walk
around town.”
The challenges were
resolved by creating a
Troy Complete Streets
Planning and Design
Guidelines. Town selectmen adopted the policy
in July 2016, which includes guidelines for all
relevant town departments and boards to consult the guidelines when
working on streets in
town. The town will also
encourage partners, such
as the NH Department of
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