Windham News : I-93

Emergency detours in Windham will help if I-93 closes

Salem Editor — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:57:00 GMT

At least one local police chief has hailed the permanent blue emergency detour signs marking alternative routes around Interstate 93 as a “significant benefit.”

Windham Police Chief Gerald Lewis said the newly placed road signs gave motorists, local drivers and his department a serious advantage should the interstate close in the event of an emergency.

“If we get up on 93 or Exit 3 for a situation where the road has to be closed, when we get those people off the road they’re immediately met with a detour route,” he said. “As it stood before the signs, getting off the highway, (motorists had) to figure it out on their own.”

In the past, according to Lewis, it had not always been possible for police officers or other town officials to have detour signs already in place for drivers coming off the highway during an emergency. Having a permanent route marked by signs has given his department an added advantage in dealing with those types of situations, he said.

“It makes it easier in the fact that we don’t have to worry about explaining one on one to motorists how to circumnavigate a route or spend staff hours setting up detour signs. The signs are already in place,” Lewis said. “It eliminates one very important task because its already in place. (The signs) are a tremendous benefit for us.”

Created as part of the project to widen and rebuild the swath of I-93 from the Massachusetts border to Manchester, the alternative routes form a planned detour in the event an emergency shuts down the highway. According to the project manager for the I-93 project, Peter Stamnas, the newly implemented alternative route system for the interstate has given local police, fire and public works departments a better handle on managing highway emergencies in the future.

“The purpose is to provide appropriate routes in case of diversion,” said Stamnas, of the state Department of Transportation. “They’re a part of our incident management plan for Interstate 93.”

Stamnas coordinated with local police, fire and public works departments – as part of a steering committee – to create the most effective emergency management plan possible for the highway. As part of that management plan, municipalities were asked to draw up permanent detour routes for motorists should an emergency require the closure of I-93.

Though the amount of traffic the alternative routes could bring to local roads – especially Route 111 – and the impact that may have on the emergency response times of the department remains a concern for Lewis, he said the advantages outweighed any potential negatives.

“We’re certainly going to have to be extra cautious and the fact that you have vehicles that are unfamiliar with the route – they may want to turn around, may make unannounced turns – we’ll have to be cognizant of that,” he said. “It’s going to push the traffic off onto the local roads, but that’s going to happen anyway.”

The only real problem with the blue alternative route signs – which Stamnas compared to the hurricane evacuation route signs in Florida – has been their placement. In some cases, residents have complained the signs have blocked their view at a turn, but they have not garnered any noticeable interest from residents.

“They signs are rather self-explanatory,” Lewis said.

As only one part of a larger plan to better manage emergency situations on I-93, Stamnas has also pointed to a number of other strategies designed to facilitate traffic congestion on the highway. Smart work zones, extra emergency accesses, and electronic message boards with variable messages are all ways to keep motorists on track, Stamnas said.

According to Lewis, the alternative routes passed their first real test on Aug. 25 when a van collided with a tractor-trailer during rush hour just before Exit 1 northbound on I-93 in Salem.

With the highway closed while rescue teams attempted to extricate the van’s driver over the course of about a half an hour, motorists began coming up Route 28 and getting back onto the highway at Exit 2 in Salem and Exit 3 in Windham.

He called the alternative routes an “absolute” success so far.

Windham-Salem sewer partnership proposed

Salem Editor — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:38:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

A Windham resident and an engineer proposed the town look into working with Salem on sewer lines before making a definite decision on where to install a utility conduit along I-93. Windham’s Board of Selectmen has been pondering whether to install a conduit for future water, sewer, electricity and telecommunication lines.

The state Department of Transportation is in its final design phase for the I-93 project in Windham, and has asked the Windham Board of Selectmen to decide whether they want the conduit installed across the highway or along it before the final design is solidified.

Engineers from the DOT have said the project could cost about $300,000, and has not said they would pay for it. The DOT’s plan would be to install the conduit between the weigh station and Exit 3 on I-93. The town could also wait and bore through the highway themselves, should they so choose, for around the same price.

The area that would benefit the most economically from the utilities would be in the Route 111 corridor area, south of where the DOT has proposed installing the conduit.

Resident Karl Dubay attended the board’s meeting on Monday, Sept. 15, and brought engineer Frank Underwood of Underwood Engineering to discuss with selectmen the possibility of working with Salem in the future to connect their sewer lines with the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District in Lawrence. Dubay said this is something the town should look into before deciding to have the DOT install the conduit.

“We know that there is a connection possibly to Salem. We know that there is a potential tax base there that could benefit from that, but we don’t know a lot behind it,” said Dubay.

According to Underwood, who worked on Salem’s proposed plant expansion in the 1970s, said the agreement between Salem and Lawrence at that time left it open for Windham to possibly connect as well. While doing the study, it was found that expanding Salem’s plant would not be a total solution. Instead, the town decided to connect with Lawrence. At the time, Underwood said, the Lawrence plant was running at less than half of their total capacity.

“Even back in the ’70s, you guys may not have known about it, but there was a study that took a look at regionalization,” Underwood told selectmen. “Salem used that study as the basis to design their advanced treatment plant.”

The agreement between Salem and Lawrence specified lands along the Spicket River watershed, and Salem signed on for 5 million gallons per day worth of capacity. The study concluded their flows would be at about 3.6 million per day, but knowing the Lawrence plant had a total of 5 million available, they signed the agreement for the extra capacity.

According to Underwood, the wording of the agreement, in which Cobbetts Pond, Canobie Lake and Shadow Lake were mentioned, there is about 300,000 gallons worth of capacity factored into the 3.6 million flow calculation that Windham could potentially tap into.

Selectmen Charles McMahon said he would go to Salem on Tuesday, Sept. 16, on a fact-finding mission to explore this as an option.

Underwood said Salem is currently in the design process for phase two of the sewer system on Canobie Lake. Half of the lake is in Salem, and half is in Windham. It would be an ideal time to pursue such a municipal agreement with Salem, he said.

If Windham did go forward and connect sewer lines in that part of town to the Lawrence lines through Salem, the town could qualify for grants associated with protecting the water bodies in that area.

Underwood suggested the board examine the study for themselves, find any information the state may have on the subject and look at their master plan again to see where the need for the conduits really is, and then decide where they should go, and whether a sewer agreement with Salem would work.

“You do concept planning. The idea is that you’ve got enough information where you can actually develop a framework where you can start on a fact-finding approach,” Underwood said.

The board decided to begin studying the project, saying they would look for the money from CTAP funds and would also explore whether the DOT would be willing to fund it.

Windham may put pipline in during I-93 work

Salem Editor — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:18:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

The Windham Board of Selectmen has about a week left to decide whether a utilities conduit should be installed under Interstate 93 by the weigh station.

The state plans to start the Windham portion of the largescale I-93 widening this summer, and needs to know whether the conduit will go in before getting too deeply into the improvements.

The conduit would include phone, cable and electricity lines, and a water pipe as well as fiber optics line for future developments, said highway agent Jack McCartney at the board’s last meeting on Monday, July 14. It would serve the Wall Street area by Route 111, providing the potential for future development of that area.

“In the infant states of doing the work on the (Route) 111 bypass, this item was brought up and fell on deaf ears,” said Vice Chairman Bruce Breton. “The question is, do we need this for the viability of Windham in the future, and the answer is yes.”

Chairman Dennis Senibaldi said the state has agreed to pick up the cost of installing the conduit as part of their improvements and would add the conduit work into plans before going out to bid on the Windham portion of the project. The town would pay for the cost of the piping and other materials, he said.

“Just to say whether we want it or not gives them the opportunity to put it in their bid package,” Senibaldi said.

McCartney said the I-93 construction provides an ideal opportunity to install the utilities and attract developers to the Wall Street area.

If the town waits any longer, it will be much more difficult and costly to dig up the highway and install the conduit later, he said. The cost of materials will likely go up as time goes by, he said.

“A lot of the trench work is going to be done in current construction. For the conduit, you just take some glue and put the pieces together,” McCartney said. “I don’t see it being ridiculous numbers.”

A sewer line that would serve the Wall Street area is also on the table, but can be worked around the widening project and wouldn’t need to be installed until much further down the road. McCartney reiterated that the utilities are not a need at this point, but would simply be installed for the future viability of development in Windham.

Selectman Roger Hohenberger said he wanted more information regarding the town’s financial liability for the conduit before making a decision.

“If it’s only an X amount of dollars and now’s the right time to do it, that might prompt a different decision,” said Hohenberger, adding the conduit discussion goes back 30 years and the town has not had a pressing need for the added utilities yet.

The board requested that Mc- Cartney put some cost estimates together and meet with them again on Monday, July 21.

“In my opinion, if the services are available ... we could attract development in the Wall Street area,” McCartney told the board.

Selectman Charles McMahon said the conduit discussion has been ongoing for decades, and it’s time for the town to follow through.

“There’s the potential now to at least do something for Windham’s future,” he said. “We really ought to make this happen. So many things have changed in now in our town. The future folks said wouldn’t happen has happened.”

Budget cuts slow I-93 widening project in Windham

Salem Editor — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:22:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Engineers from the state Department of Transportation met with the Board of Selectmen to update them on the progress of the I-93 and Route 111 improvements, a project that is chugging rather than gliding forward at this point, due to deep gouges in the state’s budget.

The Windham section of the project, which includes adding lanes to I-93, shifting Route 111A to the north and reshaping the interchange of Route 111 and I-93 by Exit 3 and exchanging the loop ramps for a diamond-shaped design, is projected to be completed by 2015, said project manager Peter Stamnas. The entire I-93 project is supposed to be complete by 2017.

The Board of Selectmen pondered issues of limited access to Route 111, landscaping and future surplus land that could eventually be sold to bring commercial development to Windham.

When Route 111A is moved north, motorists will only be able to make a right hand turn onto it from I-93, said Stamnas. The remaining part of it would become a town-owned road.

“One of our biggest issues in this town is economic development. By making that limited access, that kind of bars us from doing stuff in the future,” said Selectmen Chairman Dennis Senibaldi.

Selectman Roger Hohenberger voiced concern over the transition from four lanes down to two on I-93, which will also take place by Exit 3.

“Now we’re going to be the bottleneck where Salem used to be the bottleneck. It didn’t work in Salem, what you guys did, so I was just wondering how you’re going to make it work in Windham,” Hohenberger asked Stamnas.

Stamnas said the location of the bottleneck allows ample time for people to merge and that it is the least complex way of doing it. “We looked at three or four different versions and we came up with one that we feel is best suited not only for traffic volume but also for finance,” Stamnas said.

Hohenberger said the change is going to cause commuters coming up I-93 to detour onto back roads through Windham.

The state is also still trying to figure out where to install one or more conduits for sewer and electricity through I-93, a piece of the project that has become tricky with the grading associated with the added lanes.

Stamnas said the state has some ideas for the installation, but said the DOT and Selectmen need to meet “immediately” to discuss where, when and how to install that conduit.

“I don’t have any information for size. There really isn’t a great spot,” Stamnas said. “It’s not going to be an inexpensive piece of work. The town would have to pay for the installation,” he said.

Hohenberger said the state promised to pay for the installation several years ago, and Selectman Charles McMahon said if something has changed since that promise, Stamnas should look into it and inform the town right away.

Stamnas was also trying to get the board’s feelings on a $225,000 landscaping layout that would surround the interchange by exit 3. The plan includes hundreds of trees which Stamnas described as low-maintenance.

The state would install all the greenery for that plan, but after a year the town would take on ownership and responsibility for maintaining them.

Both McMahon and Hohenberger thought the money the town would have to spend to maintain the landscape each year would be too much. Final maintenance costs have not been calculated yet.

Senibaldi said the board needs to sit down with a professional to go through the plans and get the best estimate for how much the maintenance wold cost the town each year.

“We’re making a decision for the future taxpayers of Windham, and we need to be sensitive to that,” Senibaldi said.

Breton said the board should go with the landscaping plan, as previous boards had approved it and the location is the gateway to the Windham community.

“We spend money on other projects that don’t have the magnitude of what this project is,” said Breton.