To: Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Department of Public Works, MEDO, and Planning Department

From: Residents and Stakeholders of the Pine Street Corridor and Surrounding Neighborhoods

Date: May 13, 2025

Subject: Community Support for Repaving and Restriping Pine Street to Include Traffic Calming in 2025. 

We, the undersigned residents, workers, and community members of Manchester, strongly support the repaving of Pine Street with a reduced lane configuration and the inclusion of a dedicated bike lane from Bridge Street to Webster Street, in alignment with the 2019 BMA-approved plan to implement bike lanes on Beech, Maple, Chestnut, and Pine Streets during scheduled resurfacing.

We respectfully urge the City of Manchester to move forward without delay and to complete the striping of Pine Street with a reduced lane configuration that includes a bike lane immediately following its scheduled repaving.

Our reasons for supporting this initiative include:

• Safety for All Road Users: Dedicated bike lanes with buffer zones reduce dangerous conflicts between parked cars, cyclists, and drivers. They encourage safe exit from vehicles and reduce the risk of dooring accidents.
  
  
• Traffic Calming Benefits: As noted by the Traffic Division and Aldermen, the reduction to a single lane on Beech and Maple Streets have led to noticeable reductions in speeding and erratic driving behavior. Similar results can be expected on Pine Street.
  
  
• Low Cost, High Impact: According to DPW leadership, the repaving of Pine Street is already scheduled, and the cost of including a bike lane through restriping is negligible, especially if completed immediately after paving. Waiting could introduce unnecessary delays and added costs.
  
  
• Support for Sustainable, Accessible Transportation: A growing number of residents rely on other forms of transportation for commuting and everyday transportation. Including bike infrastructure now supports a more inclusive and connected community.
  
  
• Alignment with City Vision: The plan to add bike lanes was adopted in 2019. Implementing this now ensures continuity with the City’s broader efforts to support multimodal transportation and create safer streets for everyone.
  
  We understand that a working group may be formed to evaluate bike lane planning citywide, and we support community engagement and data-driven planning. However, we believe this should not delay the already-planned improvements to Pine Street, especially when the infrastructure upgrade is ready to proceed and the opportunity to add a bike lane and reduce traffic to a single lane is both timely and cost-effective.

We encourage the City to follow through on its 2019 commitment and complete this section of Pine Street, ensuring safety, connectivity, and progress for our neighborhoods.