A white cross pays tribute to a Pittsfield mother and her 8-year-old son on a hill off the westbound side of Route 4 in Chichester.
They were killed on the road in 2011 at the same spot on Route 4, known as Dover Road, where a man would die in 2018 on his way to pick up his sons from their school in New Durham. A little way down the road towards Concord, a 79-year-old woman perished in a three-car collision last Thanksgiving.
In the past ten years, this 4.5-mile stretch of road has seen 549 car crashes, resulting in 165 injuries and five deaths.
Chichester Police Chief Joshua Wright thinks this is the most dangerous roadway in town, with Route 28 as a close second.
“There’s fatals all over the state, unfortunately, and to varying degrees,” he said. “It could be speed, [in] a number of our collisions, speed was a major factor. What I’m seeing on Route 4 is vehicles now crossing over the other lane, much like the one in 2025.”
A center turn lane has helped minimize danger on the portion of Dover Road that heads eastbound off of Interstate 393, Wright said. Prior to the lane’s creation in 2019, the road consisted of two lanes heading eastbound and one heading west, which led to difficult merges and many accidents.
The state Department of Transportation had been considering changes to the traffic pattern for a while as it undertook a road resurfacing project, but it took a fatal accident in 2018 and a resulting petition to secure the turn lane.
Overall, the number of collisions on Dover Road has declined in the past ten years. The road saw 50 collisions in 2025 and 48 in 2024, down from 68 in both 2016 and 2017.
“This middle turn lane has been great,” Wright said. “We used to have collisions, left turn in traffic at the Lugg Plaza. That solved a lot of those accidents.”
Even with the middle turn lane, the largest risk factors persist: turning left into or out of businesses on either side of the road, especially on hillier parts where drivers have reduced visibility of oncoming traffic, as well as merging from two lanes to one and, of course, speeding.
Coming off the highway, drivers don’t always adjust their speeds to meet the limit accordingly, Wright said. He’s seen motorists drive as fast as 70 miles per hour where the limit is actually 45. Speed limits on this part of the roadway fluctuate, going down to 40 then back up to 50.
In the two years Jim McFall has worked at Super Shoes, located where 393 funnels into Dover Road, he’s grown increasingly vigilant of other drivers. The road gets worse around commuting hours, but he said it regularly feels dangerous with the high speeds people maintain as they come off the highway.
“I’m used to it myself but for customers and whatnot, they’re maybe not as much. I’ve seen a couple of accidents in my time here,” McFall said.
Road safety is not just a concern for his store but for others in the area, too, like the Weathervane Seafood Restaurant, he said.
“When I’m leaving for the day — I live in Hooksett — so usually I’ll take a left-hand turn to head to Hooksett that way, but sometimes the traffic’s so bad I’ll take a right and turn around afterwards,” he said.
Dover Road continues from Chichester into Epsom, where a large traffic circle presents its own challenges for motorists navigating merges. However, as Epsom Police Chief Brian Michael noted, the area doesn’t pose as large a concern because the speed limit going into the traffic circle is 35 from each direction.
“People are prepared to yield when they get there,” Michael said. “I know the state put in new lighting, which has certainly helped.”
Like Wright, he sees people traveling at interstate speeds on Route 4. He also worries about the number of vehicles present on the road at one time.
“Dover Road certainly has a lot of traffic that comes up and down it,” Michael said. “In the morning, traveling westbound into Concord, it certainly gets backed up for a decent amount of time.”
Beyond Route 4 and Route 28, Chichester’s Bear Hill Road is another sticky stretch that sees speed-related accidents, especially coming down the hill, Wright said.
Last summer, an 18-year-old Loudon motorcyclist died on Bear Hill Road after a collision with a van. In 2022, a woman cresting the hill perished after her vehicle rolled over.
Wright urged motorists to practice defensive driving, maintaining speed limits and staying vigilant while turning or trailing behind other vehicles.
“Basically, to stay safe, do the speed limit,” he said. “Be mindful of other drivers. Defensive driving is always the key to remaining safe, being aware of your surroundings.”
Learning those skills starts at a young age.
“Parents have to have conversations with kids about speed, because speed does kill,” he said. “You can’t come back from it if you’re not alive.”