City Awarding Contract to Upgrade Downtown Maplewood Avenue Traffic Signal System

Portsmouth, New Hampshire – The City of Portsmouth Department of Public Works has reviewed bids and is awarding a contract to Electric Light Company of York, Maine for the upgrade of the traffic signals at three intersections along Maplewood Avenue at Deer Street, Hanover Street and Congress Street. The Parking & Traffic Safety (PTS) Committee recommended the changes in December 2019. The changes will upgrade the signals to provide concurrent pedestrian phasing to deliver the following benefits:

• To improve pedestrian access to and from the Foundry Parking Garage
• To comply with ADA accessibility requirements for pedestrian traffic signals
• To shorten pedestrian wait times by up to 80 seconds
• To improve traffic flow, shortening the wait-time for stopped traffic by 30 seconds
• To reduce the number of pedestrians crossing against the signal (jaywalking)

The signals currently provide exclusive pedestrian phasing, which means that all traffic has a red signal when the pedestrian WALK signal (a walking figure symbolizing it’s safe to cross) is displayed. City staff has proposed, and the PTS Committee has concurred with the change to switch the exclusive pedestrian phase to a “concurrent phase,” giving pedestrians the WALK signal when the traffic moving parallel with them has the green signal.

Turning traffic would have to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk, as they do at intersections without pedestrian signals. Signs posted at each intersection would inform drivers of this requirement. The new signals would also delay the vehicle green signal by 5 seconds, activating the WALK signal early to give pedestrians a head-start on the vehicles and allow them to be visible to motorists before the vehicles start to turn. This change eliminates the diagonal crosswalks at the Congress/Middle Street intersection, as they are no longer needed.

NHDOT has implemented this system at their signals along the Lafayette Road corridor, including the intersections with Peverly Hill Road, Greenleaf Woods Drive, Greenleaf Avenue, and Wilson Road. This type of pedestrian signal phasing is now common in many other cities and towns.

Educating the driving public, alerting them to the need to yield to pedestrians when turning at intersections, is a key component of the change. City staff will place Changeable Message Signs in the area prior to the implementation of the new signals to alert drivers.

Construction is expected to start in the Spring of 2020.