TRAFFIC
BY DANIEL W. DRAKE ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
It is clear to anyone on the island in June, July and August, that Nantucket has a 21st century problem right in the middle of its carefully nurtured 19th century atmosphere.

In the face of another summer season on Nantucket, and having just returned from a trip to North Carolina, my thoughts have turned to traffic. The Research Triangle region of the Tarheel State is one of the fastest growing areas of the country and, incidentally, one of the places least affected by the current decline in housing prices. Over the course of twenty years, the population growth has been staggering.

It has been remarkable to see how, by and large, the building of the regional road system has at least stayed even with the increase in traffic. What were relatively sleepy, two lane roads fifteen years ago are now four or six lane thoroughfares with fancy intersections broken up by islands; with several traffic signals for each direction; carefully installed lane markers. Left turn lanes may number as many as three or four. 20 or 30 cars lined up waiting for a traffic light - perhaps in each of three or four lanes - is not an uncommon sight.

Are there lots of cars in North Carolina? Indeed, there are. Of course there are traffic jams in North Carolina, but given the magnitude of the movement of vehicles, they are few and far between. For the most part, the traffic moves. Signals managed by sensors provide nearly impeccable timing to guide vehicles through intersections. The work of unseen hands and minds keeps things going. Traffic issues are dealt in a 21st century manner.

Are there lots of cars in Nantucket? Well, it is relative of course, but, yes, in the summer there are lots of cars. And there is a Downtown Traffic Study which has just been completed and released a few weeks ago.

Recommending changes to Nantucket's traffic patterns is a daunting task. The very nature of Nantucket's appeal as an early 19th century whaling town argues against traffic as we know it. The image many would have Nantucket evoke is of streets filled with throngs of people and carriages and horses. (We resent the smell of exhaust from internal combustion engines in an endless search for parking spaces. We forget that back then, the assault on the senses was from chamber pots emptied from second story windows and from manure which, if you will, is the exhaust of horses.)

So, is it possible that there are 21st century solutions which will in fact, help us maintain our 19th century character? Can we improve the flow of traffic in a place of narrow streets, where the pedestrian, no doubt like his 19th century counterpart, is self-appointed royalty? Are there bold moves that can be taken? Is there any hope that during the peak traffic load periods, there will be relief from traffic backed up from the Steamboat Wharf to Washington Street and whether pedestrians can be corralled so they are not forever lollygagging through the crosswalks without regard to their effect on vehicular traffic?

The consultants have suggested one bold move for the short-term, which is that Oak Street, which runs along the north side of the Dreamland, be made two-way. By their reasoning, this will alleviate pressure on Broad Street by allowing cars that want to turn back towards Main Street to turn on to Oak from Easy Street, while still affording vehicles coming in from the west and south a shortcut to the ferry.

It is easy to take potshots at such a proposal. The logic of the proposal is counter-intuitive. At a recent hearing, the recommendation was criticized as dealing with a relatively small share of Easy Street traffic; eliminating about seven parking spaces - already in short supply - along Oak Street; turning a narrow street back to two-way; and, at either end requiring a turn across incoming traffic.

The only other proposal in the study to deal directly with traffic circulation issues is to make the intersection of Candle and Salem Streets, at the entrance to the Grand Union parking lot, a two-way stop instead of the present requirement that only the traffic feeding into Candle Street from Washington Street has to stop at the intersection. Again, it is easy to criticize. The rationale for this change is that it will alleviate the back-ups on Candle Street. To the untrained eye, however, those backups are caused not by the stop sign at Salem Street but by the traffic entering and exiting the Grand Union lot just to the north of the intersection and really by the congestion all the way over on Broad Street.

Other proposals concern widening sidewalks along Straight Wharf and Easy Street. Do they make sense? The narrowing rather than widening of streets doesn't, on its face, seem to be an answer to alleviating congestion.

We have tried a big idea which didn't fly. The proposal to limit cars on the island died an early death. So we need to take some baby steps. We took one last year when the western end of Broad Street was made one-way. Let's live a little and take a couple more this year.

The proposals on the table, which the experts have developed as tweaks to the system, may or may not be 21st century. It doesn't matter. The fact that they don't involve traffic lights or islands doesn't mean they might not work. We have to give them a chance. We should carefully monitor the results so as to refine them or throw them away quickly if circumstances dictate. At the moment, what else is there?

Oh, yes, there is another proposal out there for a parking facility on the National Grid property. There are lots of hurdles to be crossed before such a thing could become reality - not the least of which is whether National Grid will cooperate. In the meantime, the voters of Nantucket, at the election on April 15, will be asked to indicate whether they think a parking garage on that property is a good idea. Just as the Oak Street proposal seems counter-intuitive, some will say the parking structure is "not Nantucket;" that it goes against everything that Nantucket stands for as a living museum of the 19th century.

(So did the electric and gas plants that sat on the property for many years, along with the tank farm that is still next door - and the waterfront which bears no resemblance to Nantucket's waterfront of the 1830s - but they all are what they are or were.) As some have suggested, maybe we should try a parking "field" on the site before getting into a structure.

If these ideas work, perhaps we can be a little faster and a little bolder in coming up with new specifics to deal with our 21st century traffic problem. Otherwise, our slice of 19th century

heaven will continue to choke. I

The "Lighthouse Keeper" reflects the views of the author and does not necessarily represent the editorial position of The Nantucket Independent. Please send any ideas or comments to drake@nantucketindependent.com.