Construction to relocate a portion of Ammon Drive at the Manchester Boston Regional Airport has been put out to bid and is expected to begin by the end of April.
The portion of Ammon Drive to be relocated begins at the air traffic control tower and runs down to the Ammon Center and Freudenberg-NOK, according to Assistant Airport Director Rich Fixler.
“The reason the road is being relocated is it sits in the runway object free area (ROFA),” he said at the Planning Board meeting April 1. “Per the standards for safety areas, it needs to be moved. It has been grandfathered in and has been on the FAA’s (Federal Aviation Administration) radar and the airport’s radar to be moved when the time is right.”
Ammon Drive, which carries about 1,800 cars per day, sits in both Londonderry and the City of Manchester, and is completely within the Airport District. Most of the airport is in Londonderry.
Impacts from the project will mostly be to parking lots and the Ammon Center, according to Stephen Haas of Hoyle, Tanner and Associates, a civil engineering firm in Manchester.
Ammon Drive will be shifted out of the 400-foot ROFA and will feature 11-foot lanes and a four-foot shoulder along the east side for pedestrian accommodation, according to Haas.
Existing water, telephone lines and gas lines on Ammon Drive are to be maintained, while fire hydrants will be relocated to the new Ammon Drive, and a few Eversource poles will need to be relocated in the Freudenberg and Ammon Center areas.
It’s possible sewer reconstruction under Freudenberg and the Ammon Center will be necessary if bids to relocate lines along the new Ammon Drive come in too high, Haas said.
Construction is to be completed in four phases, with the first phase to begin at the end of April.
During the first phase of the project, traffic will be maintained while a new portion of Lot C is constructed, as well as a portion behind Freudenberg.
Parking will shift into the new lots during phase two, allowing for the majority of construction of the new drive and most of the Ammon Center parking to be completed.
Phase three will include Freudenberg parking and construction of the remainder of the service road in that location, according to Haas.
Finally, in phase four construction, old Ammon Drive pavement and parking will be removed.
The project will result in a reduction to impervious area by 54,000 square feet. All construction will be in accordance with New Hampshire Department of Transportation standards.
Bids on the project were opened this week, with construction to begin at the end of the month and to finish at the end of November.
“We have always tried to work with you folks. We will try to implement whatever we can if you do have suggestions,” Fixler said.
“We will provide Rich and Steve with some comments, and we will work through them,” Assistant Director of Public Works and Engineering John Trottier told the Board.