Claremont plans $1.3 million upgrade for Broad Street sidewalks and crossings

CLAREMONT — The City Council is mulling a project to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety and access in the area of Broad Street, Monadnock Park and a portion of the Bobby Woodman Trail.

Christopher Turgeon with the engineering firm of BETA Group of Manchester presented the latest draft plan to the council last Wednesday.

“This initiative aims to enhance safety and connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists, linking the Bobby Woodman Rail Trail to key destinations such as the Marion Phillips Apartments and Stevens High School on Broad Street, as well as the sports facilities at Monadnock Park,” the draft study states.

“The project will achieve these goals by introducing new sidewalks, shared-use paths, rail trail upgrades, and improved pedestrian crossings.”

The City Council is expected to vote this fall on whether it will accept the project.

Should the council approve the project, it would be submitted to the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, which would pay 80% of the estimated cost. Construction would not take place until 2027.

The city received a Transportation Alternatives Program, or TAP, grant in 2021 to cover the state’s share of the estimated $1.3 million project cost. The city’s share, based on the presentation by BETA, would between $280,000 and $300,000.

The area under consideration begins where the Woodman Trail crosses Broad Street. It extends north along Broad Street to the entrance to Monadnock Park, then through the park to where the Woodman Trail crosses Chestnut Street and continues to the Sugar River.

On the western side of Broad Street, a 10-foot-wide asphalt sidewalk for both pedestrians and bicyclists is proposed from the trail to a new crosswalk near Stevens High School on Summer Street.

In addition to the new sidewalk, there would be crosswalks highlighted at Cossitt and Breck avenues and the entrance and exit of Marion Phillips apartments. The sidewalk would provide safe and accessible routes to the high school, community center, rail trail and Monadnock Park, the study states.

The study noted that the current sidewalk on Broad Street from Marion Philips to Stevens High School is in a high state of disrepair, is not continual and is inadequate at the park entrance.

A new crosswalk near the intersection of Broad and Summer streets would lead to the entrance of Monadnock Park, The proposal from BETA is for a new asphalt sidewalk along the park entrance road with two alternative routes through the park to the Chestnut Street entrance and connection to the Woodman Trail off Chestnut Street.

The first and less expensive alternative would lead around the tennis courts and the ball field then across the Chestnut Street park entrance and up a small hill to the trail.

The second alternative is a sidewalk along the large field next to the tennis courts past the Little League Fields, a playground, across a small wetlands area and then up the hill at the Chestnut Street entrance to the trail.

A few councilors said they favored the first alternative because of the lower cost and no need to touch wetlands. Also, the first alternative is less prone to flooding.

Finally, Turgeon said the improvements to the Woodman Trail from Chestnut Street to just before the bridge over the Sugar River, a distance of 2,100 feet, would create a uniform 10-foot-wide path.

Currently, the trail width ranges from about 4 feet in sections to 11 feet. The surface of topsoil and compacted gravel would be replaced by a stone dust surface.

Because possible construction is about two years away, the source of the city’s 20% match has not been determined, Mayor Dale Girard said in an email on Thursday. He would like to have the money set aside before DOT gives its approval, he said.