Dover 400 Crosswalks Commemorate Anniversary Celebration

Visitors to Dover's Apple Harvest Day were among the first to see the colorful new Dover 400 sidewalks.

The crosswalks commemorating Dover's 400th anniversary celebration were the brainchild of Community Services Director John B. Storer, whose department had to repaint the sidewalks after the downtown paving project.

"The Dover 400th Committee had asked well over a year ago about possibly getting some crosswalks specially marked to commemorate the community’s 400th anniversary. Our City Engineering staff, led by Assistant City Engineer Jill Semprini, worked with reps from the 400th Committee to craft a solicitation for bids for the actual painting & markings," Storer told Seacoast Current.

The final package called for 23 Dover 400 crosswalks, each with two logos, which came at $35,000. The city council approved using city highway funds to foot the bill.

Better Than Fake Brick

Storer said the painted Dover 400 crosswalks are more durable than the fake brick crossings, which cost $8,000 each. The faux brick crossings cost $8,000 each and didn't weather or hold up to truck traffic well. Cobblestone was also considered, but they can potentially damage snow plows.

The big drawback for the Dover 400 crossings was that they are slow to put down. Only four were complete for Apple Harvest Day.

"There's a stencil for Dover and a stencil for the 400. So it's going very, very slow to put those down. We're only seeing that we can get one or two a night, because with the new pavement, they have to be hand rolled, you put the stencil down, you actually have to roll them out instead of spraying with a gun," Storer said.

Race Against the Clock Against Winter

Winter is fast approaching, making it a race against the clock before the roads get sloppy and salt-covered.

"We're going to try to get a handful down on Central. If we can, we've got one at Holy Rosary by Broadway. So we'll try to come right down through Central and then maybe on the backside of Washington and Main, and kind of the loop around the downtown," Storer said.

The Dover 400 celebration kicks off on New Year's Eve with a gala black tie optional event at Dover City Hall including dinner, dancing, fireworks at 9 p.m. and a champagne toast at midnight.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH