Here's the problem the way I see it. Everyone; tourists, locals or delivery trucks who are coming or going to Moultonboro, Ossipee, North Conway or anywhere in between and need to reach I93 have to go through the lights in Meredith so there is a constant stream of traffic. Add to that people who have never been here before, maybe towing a boat, on vacation and driving slow anyway and it all piles up.
Next, we are all conditioned to be aware of pedestrians and all over the place there are those yellow signs in the middle of the street saying to yield to pedestrians or else and people walking expect the right of way and the law is on their side.
If people were like robots maybe the hawk signal would work but because of the built in awareness of the law and general yankee manners people tend to stop as soon as someone gets close to the edge of the road; that is not going to change. Meantime the peds might not cross despite being waved at because the traffic going the other way isn't stopping. Finally they run across and are half way to getting an ice cream cone at dockside when the crossing light goes red for nothing. Meanwhile traffic is backed up to Moulton's Farm.
The various solutions, in no order:
- Full stop light at the current crossing location. I can still see cars waving people across even under a green though.
- Full stop light further up at Lake street. Same problems but at least cars could turn left out of Lake St as well as be able to make a left into the dockside parking.
- Move the road closer to the lake and the parking lot to the other side which might reduce the amount of people crossing the street.
- Synch the hawk light so it only allows crossing when the left at 25 is red.
- Pedestrian bridge or tunnel.
I have been beating the drum for a bridge for years and still think it's really the only option that would make a difference. I could envision a big wood timber structure like a covered bridge that could also have a place to sit and watch the lake; decorative and functional.