How many studies does one corner of Main Street need? For the spot where North Mast Road, High Street and Elm Street meet Main Street in the village, the honest answer is at least four so far, plus a fifth now in front of the Select Board.
In July, Public Works Director Adam Jacobs told the Board that the Main Street intersections at High Street and Elm Street both operate at Level of Service F. That is the lowest functional rating, and queues back up in every direction. Everyone who drives through the village at the wrong hour already knows this. What gets less attention is why the problem hasn't been fixed after more than three decades of plans, and how that history explains this fall's changes. The improvements coming to the village are small, paid for with grants and run by volunteers. The big fix is still waiting on a price tag.
Thirty-six years of plans for the same few hundred feet
The paper trail is long, and every step ran into the same limits.
- 1990. The Route 114 Corridor Plan proposed paired traffic signals at High and Main and at Elm and Main. The Town turned the idea down as a poor fit for the village.
- 1998. The New Hampshire Department of Transportation studied the intersections.
- 2003. A corridor management plan moved toward local circulation that kept traffic from having to enter and exit Route 114.
- 2014. A Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant project, engineered by McFarland Johnson, went all the way through full design. It was closed before construction when cost estimates rose under federal procurement rules. Goffstown paid about $70,000 of the roughly $169,000 design phase. The project added traffic calming but did not fix the queuing.
- 2026. The Board asked for quotes on an updated traffic study, and three firms responded.
One reason this corner is so stubborn is that it carries more than local traffic. Main Street and Mast Road are Route 114, High Street is Route 13 North, and Pleasant Street is Route 13 South. The Town's own transportation planning notes that traffic crossing the river is funneled through the village.
Every option runs into the same buildings
In his July overview, Jacobs went through the alternatives studied over the years. The table sums up why each one has stalled.
| Option | What it would do | What has held it back |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic signals | Control the High and Elm approaches with lights, in layouts from a single lane up to three or four lanes | Found to significantly increase queuing on the Main Street and North Mast corridor, require substantial right-of-way acquisition and reduce pedestrian amenities |
| Roundabouts | A single oblong roundabout, a partial one at High Street, or two mini-roundabouts | Ruled impractical because of right-of-way limits, closeness to the library and Sully's supermarket, and the difficulty of running small roundabouts back to back |
| One-way loop | Route traffic over White Street, Church Street, Kendall Hadley Way and Depot Street, with side streets limited to right-turn exits | Possible impacts on residential properties and on the fire station on Church Street |
The loop is the option Jacobs said he personally supports. The 2014 study projected that it would bring the intersection to Level of Service A or B. Signalized options were projected at E or F. The loop would also free up right-of-way for pedestrian improvements and angled parking. Board members also spoke against widening Main Street to three or four lanes, pointing to the effect on the village's character.
The constraints in this table haven't changed since 1990. The library, the supermarket, the fire station and the old village buildings are all still where they were, so each new study works inside the same boundaries.
The bridge reopened, and the price tag took over
In July the Board agreed that traffic was worse than usual because the Henry Bridge was closed. Members said any formal study should wait until conditions returned to normal. The bridge on Henry Bridge Road over the Piscataquog River had closed in late June for new decking and a new riding surface, and the detour ran over Elm Street and Main Street. Goffstown TV posted "Henry Bridge Road is open!" on September 3. That removed the reason to wait.
On September 14, Jacobs brought the Board three study quotes. Fuss & O'Neill quoted $41,800 plus hourly charges for evening meetings, Hoyle Tanner quoted $54,637 and McFarland Johnson quoted $59,800. He noted that McFarland Johnson brings history with these intersections from the 2014 project, but not a fresh perspective.
Jacobs then gave the Board a frank assessment. Traffic volumes have grown since the last data was collected, and he said a new study would likely reach the same conclusion as before: a signal would improve safety but lower the level of service for through traffic on Route 114. He said he had reservations about spending $40,000 to $60,000 on a study if the Board and community aren't ready to act on the results. He suggested that clearly different solutions might require land purchases, public-private partnerships or road realignment.
Selectwoman DeCesere asked whether rough cost estimates for each option could be produced in-house first, noting that taxpayers consistently focus on price. Vice Chairman Douglas pointed out that signals can switch to flashing mode during off-peak hours, and that roundabout proposals had generally met a negative community reaction in past discussions. The Board voted to have Jacobs bring preliminary cost estimates for signals, a roundabout and a one-way loop to the September 28 meeting.
As of early October, the Town's posted records show no study award. The action matrix for the October 5 meeting carries the item forward without recording a study selection. Timing matters here. McFarland Johnson's proposal stays open through October 30. It calls for 12-hour weekday turning counts in September or October while school is in session. The counts would cover the main intersection, North Mast Road at White Street and Main Street at Church Street, along with three years of police crash data. The study would compare two signal layouts and two one-way loop layouts using North Mast, White, Church and Main streets, possibly crossing the Town Hall parcel. The firm estimated six months to finish once accepted.
Jacobs told the Board the Route 114 segment lies inside the Town's urban compact and is maintained by the Town. He added that NHDOT would need to be brought in early for any significant change.
Where the crosswalk money went instead
Pedestrian safety on these same streets went through a smaller version of the same story this year. In June, AARP New Hampshire announced a 2026 Community Challenge grant for Goffstown Main Street to install crosswalk warning lights, high-visibility markings and updated signs in the village center. That project didn't happen. Tina Lawton, president of the Goffstown Main Street Program board, explained why to the Select Board on September 28, as reported in the Union Leader:
"There are a lot of restrictions that are prohibiting us to move forward with that project so I requested permission from AARP to see if we could reallocate that to another project, and they have approved it."
The Board approved the reallocation unanimously. Here is how the $15,000 is now divided:
| Project | Amount | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Two bike racks | $4,000 | One at each end of the village, with "Goffstown" worked into an arch, aimed at rail trail riders |
| Multi-level garden planter | $4,000 | On The Common, near its irrigation |
| Two café tables | $4,000 | At the outer edge of The Common |
| Lamp-post art banners | $1,000 | Around The Common |
| "Yield to pedestrians" signs | $1,000 | Six to nine portable signs set out at crosswalks during events |
| Seasonal lighting | $1,000 | White tree lights at Rotary Park, near the river |
The Rotary Park lights build on something the program already does. Each fall it strings white lights on the trees in the park on The Common. "Doing Christmas lights is normal. What we wanted to do is expand it to Rotary Park and do white lighting," Lawton said. The completion deadline is December 15, 2026. The only crosswalk piece left is the set of portable signs, which go out during events. The permanent lights and markings were dropped.
What this means for the village through December
The first event likely to use those portable signs is already on the calendar. Goffstown Main Street lists the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off for Saturday, October 17, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Pumpkin Regatta for Sunday, October 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Touch-a-Truck runs Saturday the 17th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. That weekend puts the heaviest foot traffic of the season on the same streets the traffic studies cover.
Parking near the library may be tight for a while. Public Works is preparing to reclaim and repave the library's upper and lower lots, the last phase of a drainage plan finished in fall 2025. A September 23 update said work dates weren't set yet and that the entrance could be blocked at times. While the work is underway, the library is pointing visitors to its Elm Street entrance. Alternate parking includes Town Hall, the municipal lots on School Street and beside The Common, on-street spaces in the Village, and the even-numbered side of High Street.
The new bike racks connect to work on the trail itself. The Goffstown Rail Trail group reports that a 250-foot section near the Shell station on Mast Road is under contract for surface improvements in 2026. Once the arched racks are in at each end of the village, riders coming off the trail will have a place to lock up within a short walk of spots like Flight Coffee at 24 Main Street.
The next Board decision is the one to watch. Either the Board takes one of the three study quotes, possibly before McFarland Johnson's October 30 deadline, or it reviews rough construction estimates for signals, a roundabout and a loop first. Whichever it chooses, the planter, café tables, banners and Rotary Park lights are scheduled to be done by mid-December.
At Granite State Realty Group, we follow Select Board decisions like this one because they affect daily life in the village, including how long it takes to get through Main Street. If you'd like to talk about how projects like these could affect a particular Goffstown street, request a free local market consultation and we'll share what we're seeing.
