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July 21. 2004 8:00AM

After learning about a serious hit-and-run accident near the Red Blazer restaurant on Manchester Street, a legally blind local resident has renewed his call for a traffic light and pedestrian crosswalk in the area.
Larry Ashford, who has contacted the city about the danger several times in the past, said the July 7 accident is proof that a signalized crosswalk is needed.
At Ashford's request a year and a half ago, the city council obtained a report from the engineering department on the need for a signalized crosswalk on Manchester Street at the point where the Dunkin' Donuts driveway faces the entrance to Crestwood, also known as Jensen's mobile home park. The engineers recommended that no action be taken, as the traffic count did not warrant the expense of the improvements.
" What kept getting me really cranked was they said that there's not enough traffic on the street," said Ashford, who lives at Jensen's. "Not enough traffic? Have you ever walked on the street? My God."
Ashford, a former Hillsboro police officer, has been losing his vision since the 1970s as a result of retinitis pigmentosa and has been legally blind for two years. Only one crosswalk exists on the entire stretch of Manchester Street, by Carlson's Chrysler-Plymouth near Interstate 93. If he wanted to use that crosswalk to get coffee at Dunkin' Donuts or go to lunch at the Red Blazer -where the Guide Dog Users of New Hampshire group has its regular meetings - Ashford and Cameo, his guide dog, would have to walk more than a half-mile just to get across the street.
But the Disabilities Rights Center, a federally funded agency that provides legal advocacy services, told Ashford that crossing driveways where the sidewalk breaks could be just as dangerous as crossing the street without a light, Ashford said. Without another option, Ashford said, he risks crossing Manchester Street without a light and seeks help from people with full vision.
Ashford initially contacted the city council in 2002 through the Disabilities Rights Center. After the first effort to obtain pedestrian improvements proved unsuccessful, Ashford's case advocate at the center encouraged him in writing to continue communicating with the city to seek a traffic light and crosswalk.
After Richard Heyward of Somerville, Mass., struck Linda Bousquet and George Kaiser near the Red Blazer on July 7, Ashford redoubled his efforts. "I said to myself, that could've been me," he said.
Bousquet, 51, of Gilford, remained hospitalized yesterday, nearly two weeks after the accident. She was listed in fair condition, upgraded from serious condition, Concord Hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Dearborn said. Kaiser, 57, of Concord, was treated and released for minor injuries immediately after the accident.
Heyward, 35, fled the scene of the accident and is being held at the Merrimack County House of Corrections on $60,000 bail. He was charged with two felony counts of conduct after an accident as well as on a misdemeanor count of violating his bail conditions. At the time of the accident, he was out on bail for weapons charges from Massachusetts, on the condition that he not violate any laws.
Ward 8 City Councilor Keith Allberg, who represents the area, said he agrees with Ashford that it's time for a signalized crosswalk on Manchester Street, which has "a mile-plus of unstoppable roadway." Moving southeast from I-93, the street has no crosswalk, light or other traffic impediment between Carlson's and the Pembroke border.
Allberg said he disagreed with the last engineering report. Guidelines and numerical data are important for determining traffic and pedestrian improvements, he said, but they shouldn't be everything. "You've got to look at it logically," Allberg said, and ask, "Hey guys, what makes sense here?"
When the council considers future capital projects this fall, Allberg said he'll recommend adding a signalized crosswalk between Jensen's and Dunkin' Donuts for the 2005-06 budget.
Martha Drukker, a city engineer, said she thought a signalized crosswalk would cost about $250,000. Though Manchester Street is a state road (Route 3), Concord would have to fund the entire project, as it's inside a zone defined by the "urban compact" between the city and state. However, the light would still have to be approved by the state, which would need to consider whether the light would interfere with traffic at Exit 13 for I-93.
Though Ashford wants the crosswalk at a point where traffic comes from four directions - including Dunkin' Donuts and the 300-home Jensen's community - it's considered to be mid-block and not an appropriate place for a signal, Drukker said. Instead, the road is designed to accommodate a traffic light a few hundred yards to the south, at Old Suncook Road.
But traffic demands do not yet call for a light at Old Suncook Road, and no light or crosswalk is in the works as part of the city's recently approved three-year plan to widen all of Manchester Street to three lanes.
One alternative does exist to the quarter-million-dollar solution. After a 7-year-old boy was struck while crossing near the Dame School four years ago, the city replaced the 13 non-signalized crosswalks on Loudon Road with five temporary pedestrian signals, Drukker said. Those lights are mid-block, not at intersections, and cost $30,000 each, she said. But they were not meant as a permanent solution, and Drukker said she wouldn't advocate their use elsewhere.
" I sure wouldn't recommend them, because I see people on Loudon Road - you push the button and one car stops and the other one doesn't," Drukker said.
But even at $250,000, Allberg said the cost shouldn't be an issue. He said when the council was discussing the price of the Langley Parkway connection to the hospital, fellow Councilor Red Brochu made the comment that "If it saves one life, it's worth $1 million."
" Well, we're not asking for $1 million, we don't need $1 million, but it will save more than one life," Allberg said.
(Eric Moskowitz can be reached at 224-5301, ext. 310, or by e-mail at emoskowitz@cmonitor.com.)