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Durham on Road to Nowhere Wagon Track Trail Killed by Durham Town Council Aug 19, 2003 In a shameful display of pandering to special interests instead of protecting the public good, the Durham Town Council, by a vote of 4-3, threw away $250,000 in Federal Transportation money and nine years of transportation planning in order to keep a very small group of property owners happy when they killed the Durham/Madbury Wagon Track Trail Project on Monday night. The debate in the Durham Town Council was dominated by mischaracterizations and the omission of key facts. The town weenie - Tod Selig - usually an extremely competent individual, was unable to get some of the most basic facts correct. When asked for a breakdown of the cost of the project he could not recall, despite extensive documentation, that: 1. SABR had already spent over $9,000 on the initial survey of the Wagon Track; 2. The UNH Office of Sustainability programs had committed $10,000 to the project, 3. SABR had committed an additional $6,000 to the project; and 4. Madbury had already spent $6,000 on the project. That is a $31,000 omission in a critical discussion. John Kraus - a self proclaimed cyclists because he waddles about a mile into the university on his bicycle - had about as many facts straight as "there is no ozone hole" Rush Limbaugh. He showed pictures of bicycle swallowing mires that extended the entire width of the 15 foot wide Wagon Track Road, indicated there were several of these on the road, and then proclaimed that the route was easy to ride! Then, in a display of fuzzy math that even President Bush would have been impressed with, he changed a $335,000 project (with a local 20% match of $67,000 of which $31,000 had already been raised) into a $500,000 project that would require Durham to spend $250,000! You would think a fiscally conservative man with a PhD could at least get some basic math right. But not John "I guess the facts don't matter" Kraus. His riding partner on the town council, Mal "I support bike paths but still want your children to ride on Route 4" Sandberg (council chair and chief intimidator) did his part to railroad the vote to kill the project by restricting the nature of the amendments to suit his own purposes. In a clear disregard for the democratic process, Sandberg reversed the initial vote when he did not get the result he wanted. Then, after making sure he had lined up the necessary support, he called for a second illegal vote. This description could go on but you can watch this all for yourself. SABR will get a hold of the video of the town council in action on Monday 18 August and will post the more illuminating sections on our web page. Stay tuned. What next? SABR will regroup and after consulting our lawyer, we will map out a course of action. One thing is clear - Durahm cannot be allowed to throw away nine years of careful and thoughtful transportation planning without a fight. The gloves are off and a fight is brewing.
WHAT CAN YOU DO: Call or e-mail the following individuals to express your outrage: Mal "your kids can ride on Route 4 for all I care" Sandberg: 603-868-5211 John "who cares about the facts, I'm just right" Kraus: 603-868-1929 j_kraus@unhn.unh.edu Todd "I'll do whatever mal says" Selig: 603-868-5571 administrator@ci.durham.nh.us Fosters Wagon Track Newspaper Article Wed 20 Aug 2003. Durham Wagon Track Trail — Ready for 2003? Slowly but surely, the Durham Wagon Track Trail project is crawling forward. It has now been eight years since the town applied for Federal ISTEA funds. The project is now on its’ third town planner and second town administrator. It has been reviewed and voted upon by several different town councils. And following a recent update (Spring 2002) of the project by the town administrator, director of public works, planner, and engineer, it appears that the "backburner" status the project has experienced over the past year will be upgraded. The plan now is to complete the final design and obtain wetland and road cut permits over the next several months so that construction may begin in the spring of 2003 — nine years after the original application was submitted. What is the Wagon Track Trail: The Wagon Track Trail is a multiuse trail designed primarily for safe transportation use by bicyclists but will be open to pedestrians, hikers, cross-country skiers, and equestrian use. It will stretch for approximately 2.7 miles through the towns of Durham and Madbury, along a combination of closed public roadbeds (Class VI) and currently maintained town roads. The path will provide a safe, viable alternative to US 4 for non-vehicular travel. It is also designed to accommodate logging vehicles (by permit only) as well as emergency vehicles. As currently designed, the trail will be 17 feet wide — 10 feet of paved surface bounded by a 5 foot and 2 foot wide stone dust shoulders. While the trail design is much wider that is necessary for cyclists, it reflects the needs of the community for a multi use trail that will serve pedestrians, cyclists, equestrians and logging trucks. While approximately two-thirds of the trail is in Madbury — the trail is a major benefit to Durham residents as it starts and ends in Durham. It also allow safe and effective route for cyclists and pedestrians from Durham to points east. The wagon track trail is a key section of a regional bicycle transportation network that will eventually connect the towns in the Great bay/seacoast region. In this sense, it is not a recreation trail, but a key component of a transportation system. A Not-so- Brief Timeline for the Wagon Tract Trail project Project/Application History: -Project submitted to Seacoast Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) by Durham on 28 Feb 1994 for consideration under Federal ISTEA Enhancements funding. -Seacoast MPO submits draft Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) to NHDOT after formal public hearing. -Fall 1994 - State Enhancements Committee votes and approves projects for this Round which are to be placed in State TIP after approval by NHDOT Commissioner Approval and NH Governor. -Federal Highway Administration approves the New Hampshire State TIP with Wagon Track project scheduled for FY 1998. -Delays in statewide program push Wagon Track project back to FY 99. Council confirms this by not putting match in FY 98 CIP and requesting staff to meet with Madbury regarding this process in 1999. -In early Summer 1997, Durham and Madbury along with SRPC begin workshops, site walks and presentations on project preliminary engineering. NHDOT project manager Don Lyford walks site during one of the early walks. -In 1998, SRPC meets with Safety and Public Works staff in both towns and Town Council and Selectmen appoint Wagon Track Advisory Committee to deal with design and implementation issues. Publicly Noticed (Fosters and Fliers in Durham and Madbury) Trail Walks: June 1997 First Walk — Selectmen Invited July 1997 Interested Parties Mailing List Created at SRPC Abutter info solicited from Durham and Madbury November 1997 Second Walk - Fosters Notice — E-mail to abutters July 1998 Third Walk - abutters noticed October 1998 Fourth Walk - abutters noticed Formal Presentations: May 21, 1997 Madbury Planning Board presentation — per request December 29, 1997 Durham Selectmen delay funding in CIP for one year and ask for start of workshop meetings with Madbury. January 26, 1998 Madbury Selectmen — per request — Steve Pesci Selectmen meet with Durham officials and agree to form working group October 27, 1999 Public Informational Meeting on Project with NHDOT — Full notice to Abutters and Newspaper Ads October 20, 2000 Public Informational Meeting and Hearing on Final Trail Design Options — Full Notice to Abutters — Newspaper Ads Madbury-Durham Wagon Track Technical Advisory Committee Meetings: The committee met 14 times beween September 1998 and January 2001. Significant Project Dates: May 16, 1995 Project is added into Ten Year Plan — [Governor and Council Approval] March 9, 1999 Madbury Town Meeting Approves Wagon Track Project Warrant Article; Durham Council Approves Town work through preliminary engineering/design November 6 1999 For the third time, the Durham Town Council voted (6 for; 2 against) to APPROVE moving forward on the Wagon Track Trail. In particular, they supported a motion instructing the Town Engineer to develop final preliminary design plans, as presented at the Public Information meeting, to NHDOT for final permitting, bid document preparation and advertising for construction. The project will have a typical of 10' paved section, 2 foot shoulder on one side for pedestrians, and a 7 foot shoulder on the other side for horses. January 24, 2000 Durham Council Approves MOU with Madbury and authorizes Town staff to proceed through design bringing proposed design back to Council before any construction approval. February 7, 2000 Madbury Selectmen approve MOU with Durham March 9, 2000 Durham signs project management contract with NHDOT April 20, 2000 NHDOT issues authorization to proceed with the project. Design process begins with Durham Town Engineer. August 21, 2000 Durham Council Meeting with Madbury Selectmen to review 90% final design plans and Committee Report. February 2001 Final Design Plans submitted to permitting agencies for review Who pays for Wagon Track: Eighty percent of the total estimated cost of $305,000 will be paid by the Federal ISTEA transportation funds. The remaining $61,000 will be covered by a variety of sources: $15,000 grant from the UNH Parents fund to SABR $10,000 from the UNH Office of Sustainability Programs $6,000 from Town of Madbury $30,000 from Town of Durham For more information contact or to express your continued support for this project contact: Bob Levesque, Durham Town Engineer: 603- 868-5578 or blevesque@ci.durham.nh.us Todd Selig, Durham Town Administrator: 603-868-5571 tselig@ci.durham.nh.us |
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