This year the Village Planning Committee (VPC) is presenting a warrant article at Town Meeting for the final design phase of the Main Street improvements. These construction plans are the last step to complete work that began back in 2002 when the Select Board created the VPC to deal with several major concerns defined by residents at the Vision-to-Action Forum.
The warrant provides funding to prepare construction plans for traffic calming, street edges, parking, and walkways on Main Street. The options for traffic calming include traffic islands, road striping, signs, and crosswalks to slow traffic as it enters the village. For example, the small island with the fountain by the historical society is traffic calming.
We need to slow traffic coming into town. Main Street is increasingly becoming a shortcut from Route 9 to Route 202 for commuters and trucks.
In each step of the design process, the public, working with the engineers the town hires, will review and revise the plans. These review sessions will be announced by public notice. As with previous VPC projects, we are taking care to find the right-sized fit for the historic district. There are no off-the-rack solutions for Main Street.
The warrant asks for $63,500. However, the actual amount that the town will expend is one-third of that, $21,166. The NH Department of Transportation (NHDOT) pays two-thirds of the total cost. HancockÕs money will only be expended if NHDOT appropriates its share.
The best estimate from the proposals that the VPC solicited provides for professional engineering and design of detailed construction drawings for the Main St. improvements. Our engineers will also work closely with NHDOT and other state agencies to shepherd our project through design and approval.
With these construction plans, Hancock can work with NHDOT to get the design we want. It is important that Hancock control the design. Other Main Streets in our state have suffered from roadwork that has destroyed the scale and historic character of beautiful places.
The completed plans will make the project eligible for matching state construction money. These state funds should cover up to two-thirds of the construction cost. The plans will also position us to qualify for Federal economic stimulus aid, should that become available.
We are already on the list of state highway projects. It is difficult to get on this list, but we have been working for years with NHDOT district engineers and with our state representatives. As a result of our continuing dialogue with NHDOT, we can report that they like the proposed project, and support our design objectives.
It is important to complete this engineering design in 2009 so that Hancock is in line with the regularly scheduled state roadwork. By aligning our work with the stateÕs, we will minimize disruption to business and traffic along Main Street. In addition, completing the engineering design in 2009 allows Hancock to be ready for the expected release of NHDOT funds.
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After years of planning, construction began on other Main St. projects:
Removing Utility Wires on Common Begins
Our deep thanks go to the Hancock Improvement Association. (HIA) They reached their fundraising goal, raising the money needed to bury the wires on the common. Co-chairs Ted Renna and Mary Covington led a dedicated group: Regina Bringholf, Mike Fallon, Howard Mansfield, Byron Niederhelman, Robert Pettegrew, Larry Schwartz, and Rick Simpson. Ray Pierce is the honorary chairman.
This project is funded entirely with individual donations. The support of HancockÕs residents has been outstanding.
Work has begun on burying the utility wires. It will be completed this year. The HIA and the VPC thank Road Agent Kurt Grassett and his crew carefully managing the construction despite being on short on staff. Their dedication has been essential.
The Hancock Highway Department also began the drainage work on Main St. (You may have noticed the swimming-pool-sized hole in front of Neal CassÕ house.)
This innovative new system is funded with a $94,500 Watershed Assistance and Mitigation Grant from the Department of Environmental Services. In 2007, the VPC, in cooperation with the Hancock Conservation Commission and the NH Department of Transportation, won the grant. This will be the end of the huge puddles on Main St., and more importantly, will stop Main StreetÕs polluting run-off from entering Norway Pond and Davis Brook.
As part of this project, the walkway from the Forest House (Adams apartments) to the corner, has been restored.
The drainage work is about halfway done and will be finished this year.
A lot of unglamorous planning has preceded all this work and the work to come, most notably the conceptual plan developed by the VPC with Holden Engineering in 2005, and a complete ground survey that formally documents the boundaries between town property and private residences in the historic district. This 2007 survey is the first extensive ground survey of HancockÕs village since the middle of the 19th Century. A complete ground survey was a necessary step to proceed with any project that will receive state funding.
A few basic rules guide the committeeÕs considerations of any change in the historic district:
* Keep it simple.
* Preserve the historic working landscape.
* Each change should blend in.
Respectfully,
Howard Mansfield, chair. Mary Covington, David Drasba, Mike Fallon, Jim Gamble, Kurt Grassett, Tom Pisaturo, Dennis Rossiter, and John Jordan for the Select Board.
And we thank Steve Pope who served on the VPC for three years.
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