The Bedford School District will now be able to move forward with its land purchase-and-sales agreement and begin plans to build an emergency access road to Bedford High School, as voters narrowly approved the article on Election Day.

Article 2 on the school ballot asked voters to approve the purchase of the land for $275,000 to come out of the School District Land Fund and $170,000 raised through taxation.

Approving the access road was one of the closest races on the ballot, as it was approved 1,889-1,652.

The 1.3 acre parcel of land, never appraised but previously assessed for $87,000, was purchased from Chalant Development, with the potential that Chalant would be able to apply for easement into the schools’ water and sewer, instead of payment.

“I am very happy that (the article) passed, because the state requires for us to have that emergency access,” said School Board Chairman Cindy Chagnon. “We’re very much in favor of this. From our studies, it’s the best plan and best value for the dollar that we could have gotten.”

The road will connect the middle/high school complex to Route 101 at Chestnut Drive, although Chagnon said Election Day was a bittersweet one since Article 4 on the town ballot, which dealt with the safety and traffic road improvements to the Route 101/Nashua Road intersection, failed.

“I am of course disappointed that the town road bond did not pass,” said Chagnon. “I am very happy to have the emergency access, but it’s with mixed emotions as the other two road bonds didn’t pass.”

Although the purchase-and-sales agreement price for the land was much higher than the assessed value, Superintendent of Schools Tim Mayes said, prior to the vote, that the land was the best decision for the district.

“We had looked at what commercial properties were going for, and we saw prices. It’s the shortest connection for emergency access that we can find.

All other connections would be more expensive,” said Mayes, who said the school also looked other locations near Wallace Road and Chestnut Drive. “But the cost of those were much more expensive.”

Chalant Development originally purchased the parcel for $75,000 in 1987.

Chagnon said the district will now be able to move forward with the project, although she said there are no definite dates set up to begin construction.