Hanover
Litten said he accessed the path on Oct. 21 using one of two paved sections meant for cyclists, but he immediately encountered a pedestrian. He swerved and avoided her, but in doing so, he fell, landed on his hip and was hospitalized for several days. He said he was thankful the woman wasn’t hurt.
But another bicyclist-pedestrian encounter the next day ended tragically.
Cyclist Santiago Olaya Carrillo, a 27-year-old Tuck School of Business student, collided with a 91-year-old Kendal at Hanover resident about 50 yards south of Litten’s near-miss. That pedestrian, Lucile “Lucy” Bailey, died from her injuries, and Olaya has been cited into court for riding a bike on the sidewalk, which is against state law and town ordinance if the person is over age 12.
Those two incidents have been eye-opening for Hanover town officials, so much that they prompted them to tear up the two paved sections that gave cyclists, who are riding south toward downtown Hanover, the option to avoid riding through the rotary.
Those cyclists would depart Lyme Road, or Route 10, by entering onto the first short stretch of pavement, which spit them onto the sidewalk — or mixed-use path, according to Hanover Public Works Director Peter Kulbacki — and re-enter Lyme Road by riding onto the second short stretch of pavement.
Merging back onto Lyme Road is key because if a cyclist doesn’t, he or she will be in violation by riding onto the designated sidewalk.
Both town officials and cyclists said those two access points had the potential to cause confusion.
There were no signs telling cyclists or pedestrians what the intended use of the paths were and when to enter or exit them. And although officials called the stretch where bicyclists would circumvent the rotary a mixed-use path, an area meant for bicycles and pedestrians to commingle, the path was the width of a customary sidewalk.
When it was constructed, it was supposed to be the width of a mixed-use path, which is 8 or 9 feet as opposed to 4 or 5 feet, Kulbacki said. It wasn’t constructed that way, however.
The width proved problematic for Litten that day, he said.
“I went off to the right to avoid her and I slipped off the side of the sidewalk,” recalled Litten, a longtime member of the Sustainable Hanover Committee. “When I started to get back on, I hit the ground.”
After he heard about the collision between Olaya and Bailey, Litten said, he got in touch with Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin. He suggested widening what he referred to as a sidewalk.
However, the town decided to get rid of the access points altogether by tearing up the pavement and blocking them with sawhorses.
That was the product of a decision made by Griffin, Kulbacki and several other people in town who sat down and addressed the best way to prevent a third cyclist-pedestrian face-off.
“We said, ‘Let’s not invite bicycles up on the sidewalk at that location,’ ” Griffin said.
Once a cyclist accessed the area using the first paved section, that cyclist must exit using the second paved section.
Hanover Police Lt. Scott Rathburn said he isn’t sure whether Olaya used the first access point and neglected to use the second one, or whether he had been riding on the sidewalk since passing in front of Kendal. He collided with Bailey on the sidewalk, south of the rotary.
Several email messages left for Olaya weren’t returned.
Regardless of the circumstances, Griffin said it made the most sense to ditch the access points, which she said were designed only for “hesitant bicyclists to be able to avoid having to ride in the rotary.”
A big factor in that decision was to prevent “mixed signals,” she said.
“What I felt badly about is if (Olaya) failed to get off the sidewalk where he should have … we don’t want to be sending mixed signals to our bicyclists,” Griffin said.
The potential for confusion was there, some cyclists said.
“It was clear to me that you come up on one side and go down on another, but it may not be clear to everybody,” Litten said.
“It’s not absolutely clear where a bike would go in that specific situation,” said Bill Young, the chairman of Hanover’s Bike/Pedestrian Committee.
Now, there is less room for error. From here on out, cyclists should stay on the roadway and ride through the rotary, said Kulbacki, the public works director.
For some cyclists, that isn’t a problem. They have been doing that all along.
“I never use those (access points),” said Paul Carlson, a Lebanon resident who rides along Route 10 and elsewhere in the Upper Valley. “I ride on the road, because for the most part, it is a lot safer than trying to avoid or contend with pedestrians.”
However, for less experienced cyclists, having the option to avoid the rotary was a good one, said Carlos Cutler, a Lebanon school teacher who is an avid cyclist. He sympathized with Olaya.
Cutler said he has had close calls with vehicles on Route 10, a situation that makes the sidewalk feel like a safe haven.
“I’ve had to make a lot of split-second decisions,” Cutler said. “It’s dangerous out there. Cars are not friendly.”
At least one area in Hanover gives cyclists and pedestrians plenty of space to recreate without vehicles around them. Starting at the south roundabout on Lyme Road and running to the intersection of College and North Park streets, officials around 2016 installed a wide mixed-use path using a Safe Routes to School grant. Pedestrians and cyclists are authorized to use it at the same time.
Young said he is a big fan of that path.
“Separating pedestrians and bicycles … is a big factor to improving safety,” he said. “Accidents tend to happen when bikes and cars are using the same space.”
Officials said they plan to continue to make the town a more inviting environment for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
Improving safety will start with better signage, Griffin said. A focus will be implementing signs around town that reinforce where cyclists can’t ride.
Litten said he hopes to see a sign by the north rotary that tells drivers to yield to cyclists, which is a rule of the road.
Signs alone won’t solve the problem, Kulbacki acknowledged. Enforcement and education also are key pieces to making the streets safer.
But education can prove problematic in a college town that has rapid turnover each year, he noted.
The town and the college have worked together in the past to get the word out to students that bicycles aren’t allowed on sidewalks, and those efforts will be ramped up, said Young, the chairman of the Bike/Pedestrian Committee.
“It isn’t obvious or an easy thing to do,” Young said, noting that 37 percent of the people in Hanover bike or walk on a daily basis, compared to an average of 3.7 percent in the state of New Hampshire.
For the most part, bicycle and pedestrian conflicts take place in downtown Hanover, Griffin said. She called the location of the two latest incidents “ironic.”
There haven’t been any other notable conflicts in that area since the rotary was installed in 2005.
Looking back on his initial request to Griffin — which was to keep the access paths for cyclists around the north rotary but widen the sidewalk — Litten said he has had a change of heart.
He said he thinks the town did the right thing by removing the paths.
That area often is heavily traveled by residents living in the Kendal at Hanover retirement community. Perhaps cyclists shouldn’t be interacting in such close quarters with the elderly, he said.
“It isn’t a good idea,” Litten said.
After Litten’s near collision, which he recalled taking place on Oct. 21, he sat on the ground for several minutes. The woman he nearly collided with stayed by his side.
“She was so sweet,” Litten said.
Then he biked home. It wasn’t until later that he noticed a large contusion on his left hip that led to several complications. Fortunately, he is back on his feet.
“I feel so blessed,” Litten said. “I will get back on my bike at some point.”
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.