Committee approves Fleet Street one-way design, recommends ordinance to allow contraflow bike lane

The Portsmouth Boards & Commissions committee voted to approve the design elements for converting Fleet Street (Congress to Hanover) to a one-way vehicle street and installing a marked contraflow bike lane, after staff presented revised lane widths, parking reconfiguration and safety treatments.

DPW presenter Eric (voice 3) told the committee that the plan keeps an 18-foot curb-to-curb width, switches eight parking spaces from the west side to the east side to reduce dooring risk, and would add pavement markings, a widened yellow stripe and a small painted buffer to make lane assignment clearer. "So the the the votes that have to be taken by this committee is to vote to make, 1 way flow...in order to allow the contraflow bike lane, there has to be specific language in the ordinance allowing bikes to operate against traffic," Eric said during the presentation. He also reported traffic counts of about 100 cars per direction in peak hour and roughly 20–30 bikes per day on Fleet Street.

Members proposed modifications before the vote: adding bike symbols, arrows and the word "ONLY" in pavement markings; increasing the striping width to create a stronger visual narrow; and temporarily installing flex-post delineators during initial rollout. Deputy Chief Mike Maloney (voice 4) said he did not see any obvious safety issues with the plan as presented and that the department would monitor operations. Speaker 1, a committee member, urged retaining some buffer paint so fire apparatus can traverse the lane if necessary but still provide a psychological separation for drivers and cyclists.

The committee approved the amended design elements by voice vote and then moved to recommend an amendment to chapter 7 (vehicles, parking, traffic) to explicitly allow bicycle operators to ride in the opposite direction within a marked contraflow lane. The committee also voted to move the parking from the west to the east side of Fleet Street as presented. Several members asked staff to coordinate review with the Bike & Pedestrian Committee and to return with any minor wording or striping changes prior to final council action.