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Planning board offers safety recommendation for downtown staging area at Gilbo Ave
Summary
Under RSA 674:54 the board heard notice that two parcels on Gilbo Ave will be used as a contractor staging area for the downtown infrastructure project. Public Works Director Don Lucia said the site will hold materials, containers and a job trailer; the board voted a nonbinding recommendation for truck-warning signage and other public-awareness measures to protect the nearby bike trail.
The planning board received a statutory notice under New Hampshire RSA 674:54 that two parcels near the Gilbo Ave / School Street corner will be used temporarily as a contractor staging area for the city’s downtown infrastructure project.
Public Works Director Don Lucia said the site — about 2.86 acres and owned by either Main Street America or National Grange Mutual Insurance depending on title history — will store sand, gravel, pipe, concrete structures and containers, and will include a job trailer and contractor parking. He estimated peak on-site staffing of about 30–40 people across multiple crews and said the contractor will install temporary chain-link fencing around the perimeter with a single gated driveway.
Board members raised public-safety concerns about trucks entering and leaving the site at the driveway adjacent to the rail-trail/bike path and asked whether fencing and signage plans would be used. Lucia said the contractor will typically install 8-foot temporary fencing within the existing vegetative buffer and that the city conducted a site visit. The board approved a nonbinding recommendation (unanimous roll call) urging the city to increase public awareness and consider truck-warning or “trucks entering/exiting” signage at the bike-path driveway approach.
The recommendation is nonbinding; the city will implement operational and contract safeguards as part of the project. The board’s action was an advisory safety suggestion to the public-works department and project manager.
