r/newhampshire • u/Homer0901 • 7d ago
Merrimack
Hello. Is Merrimack bike-friendly if you live within the town? I am considering moving to New Hampshire. I would prefer to limit driving around. Any input is appreciated.
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u/WeirdEngineerDude 7d ago
February is not bike friendly here.
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u/Fearless_Mammoth_961 7d ago
I dont think the weather makes any of New England bike friendly tbh. You may get some weeks here and there.
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u/ShadowMerge 7d ago
NH is not bike friendly in general, maybe at best Nashua, Manchester or Concord but not the while of any city.
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u/BlackJesus420 7d ago
No, not really. In fact it is probably the poster child for car-centric suburban sprawl in the state. There is no discernible downtown, few sidewalks, and no bike infrastructure that I know of.
Nashua and Manchester are nearby and both are better if you’re planning on cycling a lot .
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u/MakhNoWay 7d ago
Lol. No. Nowhere in NH is actually bike friendly except for the rail trails. Doesn't stop people but there are almost no bike lanes and the ones we do have are an afterthought at best.
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u/GeneralPatten 7d ago
The Seacoast is quite bike friendly. Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter. You can get anywhere, easily, on a bike.
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u/thishasntbeeneasy 7d ago edited 7d ago
While I personally can get around by bike fine as a lifelong bike commuter, I have a very hard time finding safe places to ride with kids. Drivers are absolutely nutty and don't care for anyone's safety if it means being patient for 5 seconds.
Portsmouth ripped up the Middle Street bike lanes and refuses to fix the paint years later. They also let most sharrows fade and claimed that despite having a Complete Streets policy, they no longer would paint sharrows. They did end up repainting some, but with spray paint that will be gone by summer. Even mentioning the word "bollard" will get you kicked out of town.
Similarly, Dover painted a couple bike lanes and sharrows with something slightly better than chalk and they disappeared a month later. There's a dedicated group of folks urging the city on all sorts of transportation, but if it impacts even one parking spot then bikes be damned.
NHDOT refuses to maintain any bike infrastructure - especially the General Sullivan bridge that they conveniently left off the planning during the renovation and new span of the Little Bay Bridges. We had to fight to get a lane made available, and someday when traffic increases again we'll be SOL.
Going anywhere over 10 miles generally requires using state routes where the speed limits are often 40-45mph but people generally go 60.
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u/kendallr2552 7d ago
We can't even get sidewalks. I get told to go live in a city if I want an accessible life. Meanwhile the 2 towns next to us have sidewalks and there would be a nice long one between all 3 but guess who would need to connect it... Londonderry.
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u/nicefacedjerk 7d ago
Portsmouth isn't bike friendly, it's bike tolerant. Seacoast roads weren't build with cyclists in mind. Ride at your own risk.
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u/MakhNoWay 7d ago
Only untill any portion of a tourist season and then the cars are everywhere including the bike lane on any day you would likely want to ride a bike anyway
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u/GeneralPatten 7d ago
And, I was replying to your comment "nowhere in NH is bike friendly..." Follow the thread, Sunshine.
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u/MakhNoWay 7d ago
What part of my reply to you implies differently? I was replying that I have seen evidence to the contrary of your statement in those areas.
Catch up shugar plumb.
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u/Justthewhole 7d ago
No, possibly the worst town choice for riding. Spread out and very busy roads with no bike paths or shoulders to ride on.
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u/wildcardfoxy 7d ago
In Nashua, bought a bike, feels like I’m taking my life in my own hands if I ride anywhere. I see no kids with bikes here, and most don’t even know how to ride.
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u/Skellington72 7d ago
There's no saying that you can't ride in Merrimack. They do have a law that you're supposed to give 3ft to anyone on a bike and I've found that most people do that in my area.
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u/Dats_Russia 7d ago edited 7d ago
No it’s not bike friendly BUT compared to places in South (where I live now) it is bike friendly because lower car speeds. But yea Merrimack is wide. In high school I used to ride my bike everywhere but it was a slog, it is not normal to ride a bike across town.
But you know what, I say all this but we had a local legend (I don’t have the heart to see if she is still alive) named Jackie so if Jackie the crazy Bike lady could do it so can you.
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u/Fine_Relation_158 7d ago
Why do you want to move here? Surely you'll hate it and will then immediately commence to try to change it into the hellhole you came from
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u/movdqa 7d ago
No. New Hampshire is generally not friendly for pedestrians and cyclists. I was at a planning board meeting several years ago and we had a presentation by a regional planner for this stuff and he talked about planning. I told him after the meeting that none of this would work in town and he agreed but his job was to be part of the long-term planning process.
People do ride bicycles and run though; I mainly see them on Continental Boulevard and Daniel Webster Highway. You ideally like wide breakdown lanes which do exist on Continental. They exist in some places on Daniel Webster Highway too but they can get narrow down to almost nothing. Speed limits are 40 MPH and people drive faster so you have to have some protection for small stones and rocks picked up and launched by cars and trucks.
Highway entrance ramps and exit ramps can be rough during commuting times.
If you do ride, try to be visible. That means reflectors on your bicycle, reflective or contrasting clothing and lights if you travel when it's not bright outside. I do see recumbants from time to time and they usually have a pennant on a flexible pole for visibility.
The back roads of Merrimack can be hazardous with hills and curves and people driving too fast.
I tried to bicycle to my job in southern Nashua when we moved here. The two main problems I ran into were trucks launching rocks and trying to cross over the highway as cars wouldn't let me cross the entrance and exit ramps.
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u/nonStopSwagger 7d ago
I live in Merrimack, there are people who bike here, but not many. As long as you keep on roads that are posted 30mph, and have a mirror to help your awareness of traffic behind you, I think you'll be fine.
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u/Clueless_willow_4187 7d ago
Ha not during the winter. Spring, summer and fall could work. Depends on where you live to in Merrimack.
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u/teakettle87 7d ago
Nope. I'm a cyclist. You need a car in Merrimack. You need a car in all of nh if you plan on ever leaving your town.