Woodbury Avenue Traffic Calming Project
Project Status:
The Department of Public Works is holding a public meeting on Thursday, Mar 30 at 6:30 pm at New Franklin School to present a revised plan for traffic-calming measures on Woodbury Avenue.
For the presentation from the February 15, 2023 meeting, go to the meeting presentation.
The Woodbury Avenue neighborhood has requested traffic calming measures for the residential section of Woodbury Avenue between Market Street and Bartlett Street. City Staff will be presenting revised conceptual plans to construct several speed cushions and median islands on Woodbury Avenue between Echo Avenue and Dennett Street to alter Woodbury Avenue’s current straight alignment, provide pedestrian crossing refuge areas and to slow vehicle speeds.
The Woodbury Avenue traffic calming measures were an agenda item at the Parking and Traffic Safety Committee Meeting on February 2, 2023 and will be again at the PTS meeting March 15 at 6:30 PM. Residents seeking to provide input on this design are encouraged to attend the meeting and provide their input.
Project Description
The City of Portsmouth prioritizes convenient, safe and accessible streets and roadways for all transportation users.
Residents have appealed to the City's Parking & Traffic Safety (PTS) Committee to work with them to implement some traffic calming measures to slow traffic speeds on the residential section of Woodbury Avenue.
At the June 2022 PTS meeting, the preliminary conceptual designs below were presented. These show proposed changes to the Woodbury Avenue intersections with Rockingham Avenue and Dennett Street. These traffic calming measures narrow the travel way at the entrances to the residential sections of Woodbury Avenue, alerting drivers of the change in street setting as they exit the Route 1 Bypass and Interstate 95. Additionally, the plan proposed median islands at the intersections to provide a safe refuge for pedestrians crossing Woodbury Avenue at these locations.
To reduce speeds along the section of Woodbury Avenue from Rockingham Avenue to Granite Street will require additional measures. The proposed traffic calming measures involve the installation of multiple speed cushions and two median islands along this section of Woodbury Avenue, which would break up the existing straight alignment of Woodbury Avenue. The median island may also incorporate a pedestrian crossing and flashing beacon, giving pedestrians refuge as they cross Woodbury Avenue.
Revised Project Plans (March 15, 2023)
