The dream for the East Coast Greenway is “a 3,000-mile protected biking and walking route”. Today, that dream is about 33 percent complete. That means that two-thirds of the route from Key West, FL, to Calais, ME, is composed of designated on-road routes shared with motor vehicles.
While these on-road segments are thoughtfully designated for lower-traffic rural roads and lower-traffic/lower-speed urban streets, it’s difficult, in our car-dominant transportation system, to have a contiguous on-road network that totally avoids areas of heavier traffic. (That’s why continuing to build out trails and protected bike lanes along the ECG, steadily increasing that 33 percent figure, is so important.)
One of those areas is State Route 1A, Ocean Blvd., in Hampton Beach, NH. The coast-hugging Route 1A covers most of New Hampshire’s current portion of the ECG — for now. It is a scenic ride, popular for recreational cycling, but as with most routes along the beach, it sees heavy car traffic in warmer months.
When the NH Seacoast Greenway is built, the game will change dramatically. The project reached a major milestone last summer when NHDOT bought the former rail corridor on which the trail will be constructed.
Until the NH Seacoast Greenway’s ribbon cutting, though, State Route 1A (Ocean Blvd.) is what we have. Well, one of the busier parts just underwent a radical transformation. The reasons were public health and economic — to promote social distancing, reduce the risk of coronavirus spread, and provide space for expanded outdoor dining — but the result is that Ocean Blvd. from O St. to Nudd Ave. is closed to cars and opened for people walking, bicycling, jogging, walking dogs, dining, skateboarding, and…playing street hockey.
We went yesterday, and here are a few scenes.
Jeff Brubaker 