News

Selectmen look into safety concerns at Seabrook beach

Seabrook Town Notebook
Angeljean Chiaramida
Published: June 19, 2009

Selectmen will work with safety and public works officials to try to remedy on-going safety concerns at Seabrook Beach.

Requests came recently from Seabrook Beach Village District Commissioner Dick Maquire on behalf of residents at the beach who are concerned with the speed cars travel during busy summer months along its narrow, pedestrian-filled roads.

Maquire asked for speed limits of 30 miles per hour to be lowered to 25 on Ocean Drive and Portsmouth Avenue.

"I don't think I've ever gotten up to 30 miles per hour there," Selectman Bob Moore said. "There's always people walking in the middle of the road. It's very crowded down there."

According to state law, however, selectmen must conduct a traffic investigation if they want to lower a speed limit below 30 mph. Town Manager Barry Brenner will research how the traffic study can be conducted to satisfy state statute.

Maguire also asked for the town to paint crosswalks on all the rights of way to the beach. Maguire feels having the crosswalks there will also slow down traffic.

Police Chief Patrick Manthorn offered another solution that could be quicker and less expensive. Manthorn suggested the town purchase the small signs placed in the middle of the road to mark pedestrian crossings, as is done in Hampton.

Selectmen hope for a report back from Brenner and appropriate department heads by their next meeting.

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A local businessman has given the town an easement to allow for the current restoration and future maintenance of Cain's Brook. The easement comes from Dr. John Mahoney, whose dental practice abuts Seabrook's Cain's Brook along Route 1. According to Conservation Commission Chairwoman Susan Foote, the easement will allow the town to park construction trucks in Mahoney's parking lot to prepare for and execute the dredging of the pond after Labor Day. In addition, the easement will allow a handicapped parking place.

This is the second body of water in the Cain's Brook watershed to be dredged in the restoration process Foote has overseen. Secord Pond was dredged first to start off the process.

Selectman Aboul Khan thanked both Mahoney and Foote for their work on the project.

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Members of the Seabrook Police Department have been among the community members and businesses who have taken part in Seabrook's Community Table, a free service that provides a hot meal twice a week to those in need. On May 28, police officers served 67 meals to Community Table attendees.

Manthorn said he'll be the chef soon, and he's already planning the menu. He's going to be making soup served in a bread bowl, with a side of macaroni and cheese, he said.

Started on Feb. 2, cooking teams offer free meals twice weekly — on Mondays and Thursdays from 5 to 6:45 p.m. — at Church of Christ on Lafayette Road for those experiencing financial distress. It's done with a smile; no questions asked.

For more information or to get involved, contact Joyce Addison at 603-474-9608 or 603-944-2093.

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Angeljean Chiaramida is the Seabrook reporter and can be reached via e-mail at achiaramida@newburyportnews.com or at 978-462-6666 ext. 3271.