By Chris Paul
The Londonderry Traffic Safety Committee met for the second time in 2022 and without many residents in attendance, members breezed through a very short agenda.
The second of four meetings throughout the year took place on Monday, April 4, and one of the few item discussed by members of the committee was the recent Warrant Article vote that asked voters for a town-wide speed limit of 30 mile per hour be put in place.
With that article being voted down nearly two to one, with a result of 2,569 to 1,295 the group felt that they could put this matter to rest for the foreseeable future.
Police Chief Bill Hart commented on the result, “This is not the first time this has come up. It comes up every so often. It should be noted that the on multiple occasions over multiple decades the town has determined in one fashion or another that they don’t wish to have a 30 mile an hour speed limit.”
Director of Engineering and Environmental Services, John Trottier, agreed with Hart saying that it’s not that they are not just bypassing the matter, but residents have spoke with their vote.
Several items were removed from the agenda during the meeting.
The issue with speeding on Calla Road that was discussed at previous meeting was removed citing the Speed Limit voting results.
There had been a complaint about excessive speeding on that road in the past.
The issue with a “blind driveway” on Boyd Road was also taken off the agenda, noting that the Traffic Safety Committee would not be able to do anything with the issue since it wasn’t deemed a traffic issue.
Resident Janet Bornstein had asked the committee to consider putting up a “blind driveway” sign because her home is on a sharp curve near the Londonderry/Hudson town line.
Acting Town Manager, Mike Malaguti noted that they are currently talking with Hudson officials on the matter.
The issue raised on a problem with the intersection of Young Road and Route 102 was also removed from discussion after Trottier said that he had made numerous attempts to get in touch with the person with the complaint, but has been unsuccessful.
There was a request by a resident to add a turn lane onto Route 102, citing visibility issues getting onto Route 102, but Trottier said that without having any additional information on what the exact complaint is, he can’t move forward.
He suggested taking the matter off further agendas. He said, “I can’t do anything if I don’t know what the problem is.”
Committee Chairman Bob Ramsey suggested that either the problem went away or the resident has since moved.
Hart added that they have not received any complaints about the intersection.
An issue raised about excessive traffic on Wilson Road by resident Robert Gilzinger was also removed from further discussion.
Ramsey said that a “No Thru Traffic” sign was put up on the street, but he was told the issue has persisted. He added that there isn’t enough law enforcement manpower to follow trucks/ vehicles from one end to the other.
The only other discussion raised was about speeding on Winterwood Drive. A resident had inquired about installing speed bumps on that road, but Ramsey had discussed the issue over the phone, letting him know the town generally does do that.
With that, the matter was dropped and the meeting adjourned.
The next meeting of the Traffic Safety Committee will be on July 18.