Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess is pushing for bringing back the jersey barriers this summer in downtown Nashua that were originally placed to allow expanded outdoor dining during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The barriers force all the traffic coming down Main Street, a major north-south route through Nashua, to two lanes down from the current four lanes. Nashua police and fire have warned that there are delays in response time because of the traffic congestion this causes.
The Nashua Board of Alderman has formed a task force to study the proposal for the barriers spearheaded by Nashua’s Director of Economic Development Tim Cummings.
Here is a summary of some of the more interesting statements from Ward 8 Alderman Derek Thibeault about the barriers at the March 23 downtown task force meeting, which you can watch on YouTube.
- No one is complaining about parking anymore in regards to barriers.
- No one is complaining about the barriers being ugly anymore since it was proposed to paint over the barriers.
- People who are opposed to the barriers are also opposed to masks and people died because of not wearing masks and so we should disregard their concerns about the safety of the barriers.
- If we don’t cancel Christmas because of traffic jams caused by Christmas shopping, which can slow down emergency vehicles, then slowdowns of emergency vehicles caused by the barriers should be acceptable.
- People don’t want to wait 6 minutes in traffic instead of 3 minutes. They want instant gratification.
- Police and fire will find a way to get through.
Come and share your opinion about the barriers during the public comment periods for the next task force meeting on Wednesday, March 30 at 7:30 pm. You can attend in-person in the aldermanic chambers in Nashua City Hall or call into Zoom if you can’t be there in person.
See the details of the task force meeting on the City website.
Get an in-depth background on the issues with the downtown barriers from Ward 6 Alderman Alex Comeau in his February newsletter.
Image credit | Alderman Alex Comeau’s 2/27/2022 newsletter
