The airport access road will do more than simply make it easier to get to the airport. Many town officials also believe the road will bring Bedford closer to its goals for economic development.

“That is going to be the catalyst for economic development, not only there but in the region,” said Mike Izbicki, chairman of the Town Council.

Bedford is uniquely suited for economic growth because it is at the crossroads of the main east-west and south-north highways, Route 101 and Interstate 93, and is also close to the airport, according to Town Manager Russ Marcoux. He and other officials agree: roads and other transportation networks fuel economic development.

The town wants to shape that process, especially since they see it as critical to preventing high taxes for residents.

“Instead of sitting here and waiting for serendipity to happen, I want to create a proactive role for Bedford in this game,” said Town Councilor Bill Dermody. “I’m trying to put a saddle on this horse and get it going.”

The first step was a summit on economic development in Bedford on Sept. 13, to be followed by the formation of an economic development committee that would market Bedford as the best location for new businesses or established companies looking to relocate to town.

Dermody and other town councilors are hoping that the access road will do for economic development what the Kilton Road exit off Route 101 has done for the area farther north on South River Road.

Done in 2005, the exit has sparked a fast-paced drive toward redevelopment nearby. The C.R. Sparks restaurant and event center has been sold to a Lexus dealership, the Bedford Mall has a new owner aiming to restore it. Next door, there are plans for a new shopping center and supermarket around Macy’s. Also, land off Kilton Road was considered last year as a site for a Kohl’s store and restaurant.

The airport access road could have a similar effect closer to the Merrimack end of South River Road, according to town Planning Director Rick Sawyer.

“I absolutely believe the airport access road will spur renewed interest in the properties we have on Route 3,” Sawyer said. “There’s no question it absolutely will make the properties more valuable.”

In a presentation at the summit, Sawyer noted some of the surrounding properties that are either vacant or under-developed. He counted five properties, totaling more than 100 acres, saying his list was not exhaustive. He estimates as many as a dozen parcels could become more attractive to developers because of the access road.

The future
The access road, due to open in 2013, is already bearing economic fruit, several officials said. A developer is eyeing property owned by James W. Dwire Revocable Trust for a convention center and sevenstory hotel, less than a mile from the access road. That plan came before the Planning Board Monday, Sept. 22.

The 1.5-mile access road, now under construction, will take off from the airport, arching over the Merrimack River and touching down in Bedford, where it will intersect with South River Road and the Everett Turnpike, between Iron Horse Drive and the Merrimack town line.

It will pass over the Pan Am Railways line, which the newly constituted New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority envisions as providing passenger service from Manchester to Boston. One of the stops will be in Bedford, close to the access road, according Izbicki, who is a member of the Rail Transit Authority.

The confluence of the airport access road, rail line, South River Road and Everett Turnpike make the area an ideal site for a transportation center, where buses could connect commuters to Manchester and other local destinations, shuttles could ferry people to and from the airport, and rental cars could be available for other travelers, said Izbicki.

Between South River Road and the turnpike, according to his plan, would be a parking garage, with a walkway over South River. Between that road and the rail line would be the transportation center, next to the train station. The rail and transportation facilities would be on the north side of the access road.

Rail service is not too far off in the future. Izbicki said it could become a reality in five to seven years, around the time the access road opens.

The transportation center, he said, could be the catalyst for mixed-use residential and commercial development in the area. Such transit-oriented developments, or TODs in planning lingo, cater to people who want to live in denser, pedestrianfriendly neighborhoods where easy access to mass transportation is a substitute for dependency on cars.

Elsewhere in the country, such communities have popped up in Washington, D.C., and Virginia. “It’s a good lifestyle for younger people, even older people,” Izbicki said.

Bedford would benefit directly, but Izbicki said the transportation complex would have a positive regional impact, along with similar facilities in Manchester and Nashua.

“If they’re all coordinated correctly, it will benefit the whole southern part of the state,” Izbicki said. “We don’t compete, we coordinate.”

The next step, Izbicki said, is for the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission to draft a conceptual plan to make sure the transportation center would be feasible in the area.