Portsmouth Herald (N.H.) Thursday, January 27, 1994

Bicyclists win victory at tradeport
PDA will seek $344K grant for bike paths

By Leslie Miller
Herald Staff

PORTSMOUTH - A small, grassroots group of local bicyclists scored a major victory Tuesday when the Pease Development Authority decided to ask for $344,000 in federal funds to build bicycle paths in and out of the former air base.

"I'm excited," said Cameron Wake, president of the Seacoast Area Bicycle Routes (SABR). "We're getting somewhere. There's hope yet."

THE PDA agreed to apply for Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) grants to build a pedestrian bicycle path from F ox Point Road to Merrimac Drive in Newington, as well as a pedestrian/bicycle overpass over the Spaulding Turnpike just north of the traffic circle in Portsmouth.

The PDA will commit $43,000 to the two projects. Portsmouth is currently talking with the PDA about committing $40,000 for its portion of the Spaulding Turnpike overpass.

The grant applications stem from a surface transportation study for Pease by Bedford-based Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. The study looked at ways to mitigate traffic and air pollution in and around Pease. SABR serves on the Technical Advisory Committee to the VHB surface transportation study.

"I think the Authority has a serious commitment to the study and it is a major change in the way we approach things," said Peter Loughlin, PDA vice chair. Loughlin. a bicyclist, has long advocated bicycle paths as a member of the PDA board. The Spaulding overpass, he said, will provide a way for bicyclists to go from Portsmouth to Dover without risking their lives.

"BOY, have things changed," said Tom Morgan, Newington town planner.

Morgan said the endorsement of the bike path proposal symbolizes a change In the PDA's approach to transportation planning. Rather than looking at Pease as a fortress cut off from the communities, the bike paths open the base up to the surrounding communities. "It's 180 degrees removed from previous approach," he said.

The Town of Newington has endorsed spending $3,000 for a local match to the grant for the Fox Point Road path. Newington voters will still have to approve !he expenditure at Town Meeting in March.

"A joint undertaking by the town and the PDA is just another indicator of the extent of the changes taking place," said Morgan. "It also reflects the desire on the part of Steve Foss and his colleagues to be on the cutting edge of transportation policy. I get the sense they don't want a 1980s style airport. They're really looking for Pease to turn out as a quality facility, one that's a

THE WHOLE project started several years ago when Wake, a research scientist studying atmospheric chemistry at the University of New Hampshire, was biking along Route 4 from his home in Portsmouth to Durham.

"It gave me time to think how great it would be to have a safe route to bike on," he said.

Wake also believes the Seacoast needs to find new ways to move from place to place because it does not mean federal air quality standards.

Wake's daily bike trips, along with a friend's serious Injury on a bicycle, compelled him to form SABR in 1992. In the fall of that year the group made a presentation to the Seacoast Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is charged by the federal government with developing surface transportation plans that mitigate traffic and air pollution.

The group really gelled, he said, after Paul Smith, then-director of the Strafford Regional Planning Commission, encouraged them to forge on. SABR contacted VHB about working with them on the Pease surface transportation study.

"Pease Is the obvious hub of the whole system," said Wake. "It's In the middle of the towns, and it's going to be the major transportation problem over the next decade. Plus, they were having problems with the Conservation Law Foundation. So, we said 'Why not sell this to Pease as a way to solve some of their problems.' Your problem Is you're focusing on cars. With some good ideas and a little bit of money, you can get these CLF guys off your back."

SABR's grand plan is a regional network of bike paths from Portsmouth to Rochester and east to Exeter. The group is talking to Durham about using the old Wagon track to get to Cedar Point, and creating a bicycle lane on the Scammel Bridge when it is rebuilt in 1997. They also want to restripe Route 155 to allow more space for bicycle riders.

SABR HAS not only worked with VHB, but talked to the towns surrounding Pease because they had to come up with the matching grants. "They were Interested," he said. "Portsmouth his come a long way."

Wake said the PDA's endorsement of tile overpass over the Spaulding Turnpike was a real turning point. "It's the keystone," said Wake. "Once that's in, the system can begin. Without that, all there was Woodbury Avenue."

He believes that the existence of the bike paths will encourage more bicycle riders. "It's like 'Field of Dreams'," lie said. "Build it and the players will come."

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