By answering a 10-minute phone survey, residents will help the town foresee what Bedford could look like in the next 10 years.

Things have changed in Bedford since 2000, and as 2010 approaches, the Planning Board is getting ready to write a new master plan. But first, the board needs some feedback from the community.

A master plan documents how the town will develop parcels of land around the town over the next 10 years. It will include plans on developing residential and commercial areas, particularly in the Route 101 and Route 3 corridors.

“It’s really a guidance document for how the town wants to see itself in 2020,” said Rick Sawyer, Bedford planning director. “It’s strongly encouraged (by the state) to do one.”

The Master Plan Steering Committee is asking residents to reply to the telephone survey, which will be conducted by the UNH survey center. Four hundred residents will be called with a 10-minute survey of 40 questions all relating to what residents want done to the town.

“They think it will take a week or two weeks to get everyone,” said Sawyer. “They’re (UNH) very professional and know how to ask the right questions.”

Some of the questions will ask whether the town is growing too fast or too slow. Callers will ask residents how concerned they are with increases in traffic, whether they favor certain residential developments, and how they feel about the size and scale of commercial development on Route 101 and Route 3.

The town set up an 11-person Master Plan Steering Committee which will be meeting regularly over the next 12 months. The committee will have a regular meeting on Thursday, April 23, at the Bedford Meeting Room at BCTV. They have also set a tentative date in May for an open forum where residents will be asked for their input and concerns.

A date and time will be announced. This will be one of several open forums during the year.

The town will also be adding a link to the Web site, www.bedfordnh.org, which will have updates on the committee’s progress.

The 2000 plan featured several updates to residential and commercial areas which didn’t fully come to fruition. The town center on Route 101, for example, did not receive some of the improvements set out in the last master plan.

“Clearly, we haven’t developed it to the vision we had in that document,” said Sawyer. “That’s definitely one of the things we’ll be talking about at the sessions.”

The 2000 Master Plan proposed improvements to the town center, or the village district, on Route 101 from Wallace Road to Meetinghouse Road and from the Benedictine Land north to Bedford High School south. If residents approve, those items left undone could be added to the new plan.

Sawyer said the Planning Board has already hired the engineering firm VHB to help the committee develop plans. The company has worked with several towns in the state with master plans, although this will be its first time helping to develop Bedford’s plan.

Members of the committee include Jon Levenstein, planning board chairman; Karen McGinley, planning board and Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission; Bob Young, Town Council; Laura O’Donnell, Historic District Commission; Greg May, Conservation Commission; Barbara Salvatore, Bedford Connections; and Robert Jones, Bedford Land Trust Chairman.

At-large members include residents Andre Garron, Doug Pearson, Jon Lariviere and Dave Danielson, who will also represent SNHPC and Community Technical Assistance Program.