LONDONDERRY — The town is taking steps to better enforce reckless driving on two roads near the airport by installing permanent no parking signs.
The Town Council adopted an amendment to the Town of Londonderry Traffic Code to include parking regulations on Planeview and Delta drives during its Monday meeting. The council opened and quickly closed a public hearing on the matter before unanimously approving it.
Town Manager Shaun Mulholland reiterated about the numerous citizen complaints on the two roads. He said the drifting occurring was creating “a lot of noise for those neighborhoods.”
People park along both sides of those roads who are “involved in these activities,” Mulholland said.
Police Chief Kim Bernard had proposed no parking signs on the streets last month to prohibit cars from parking the entire length of the roadways on both sides. The proposal came from resident concerns of reckless driving, speeding, stunt behavior and excessive vehicle noise on the two roadways near the airport at various hours of the day.
Mulholland said the no parking signs was one step that the chief proposed, which required action of the council to put the regulations in place. Mulholland said town officials worked together with the Police Department and the Department of Public Works to come up with the language in the amended section of the traffic code.
Police cited problems of increased traffic noise and screeching cars for more than 18 months in the north part of town only a few miles away from the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. The roads are in an industrial area, but there are residences about a half mile away.
Vegetation on the roads and neighboring properties has been destroyed by people traveling on the grass and doing burnouts. There are also tire markings on the pavement and reports of cars drifting and racing on Planeview Drive.
The Police Department has received complaints including burnouts, aggressive driving behavior and late-night vehicle gatherings on Planeview Drive and in Londonderry’s north neighborhood.
The new section of the Traffic Code related to parking and stopping regulations in Londonderry was amended to include permanent no parking areas on the two streets. The added section said it is unlawful for anyone to park along the two roadways.
Parking violations are subject to a $50 fine, according to the Traffic Code.
Other additional authority and regulations added in the section gives the Department of Public Works director the authority of temporary no parking for street or utility maintenance, parades, festivals or other similar events by posting signs or notices for not more than 72-hour time periods.
Police Lt. Chris Olson previously said the incidents were hard to predict occurring throughout the span of a day, but surveillance has caught the incidents more frequently with warmer weather.
Londonderry police often miss the incidents by minutes as the timing of when they are happening is too inconsistent, Olson reported. He said during a June meeting that permanent no parking signs would enhance the department’s enforcement abilities.