By Paul Conyers
Representatives from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) held a public hearing on Thursday, June 15, to give new details about a proposed ’roundabout’ at the intersection of Route 28 and Stonehenge Road.
Ray Chadwick and Terry Pfaff oversaw the meeting.
“No major improvements have been made over the years, with the exception of the Stonehenge Road widening in 2018,” said Chadwick. “The road experiences long delays during peak traffic hours, requiring modifications to safely allow traffic to enter NH 28.”
A roundabout concept for the intersection was green-lit by the Londonderry Town Council late last year. Stonehenge was originally slated for improvement in 2017 with a cost of $1.7 million with 50 percent of the funding coming from Londonderry, although the town’s contribution has since been replaced by a price cap of $1 million as the project cost has risen to over $4 million.
“Funding for this project will include federal and town of Londonderry funds, and we do not anticipate funds from any other sources,” said Pfaff. “The town’s portion is limited to $1 million, reducing further financial risk to Londonderry.”
Rising costs have been a concern throughout the design process, especially with inflation over the past two-years.
Chadwick called the June meeting a “significant milestone” to the “final design” phase before construction.
Highway Engineer and Consultant, Kyle Higgins, highlighted some of the challenges with the current design.
“One of the keys for roundabouts is controlling speeds on the approaches and going through the intersection,” Higgins stated. “It’s important to control those speeds, it reduces the number and severity of crashes while helping with traffic capacity.”
When completed, the Stonehenge Project should improve safety for drivers in the area.
The current design will signal drivers to slow down while allowing water to safely drain from the roadway surface to minimize environmental concerns. The project will impact wetlands to a degree, and NHDOT is still talking with federal regulators to finalize some permitting. A stormwater prevention plan will be in place during construction.
There was some concern from residents. John Wilson of 3 Tranquil Drive approved of the design, but worried that “if we build a roundabout, we don’t have the flexibility of managing traffic that you do with a light, size of the circle is critical.”
“My question is, how are we going to figure out how big this roundabout has to be?” Wilson asked.
Higgins overviewed NHDOT’s prediction growth in the area, the road will be wide enough to accommodate 18-wheeler trucks. “We feel this size is adequate for the future to facilitate traffic.”
State Senator, Sharon Carson, was more skeptical about how the NHDOT proposal could change traffic flow.
“I’m concerned about how we’re going to deal with truck traffic,” said Carson. “I am just not sure this is the right thing to do, as opposed to just having a traffic light. There is a roundabout in Derry, and there was just a fatality in their traffic circle, I’m not sure this is going to solve the problem, I want to hear from the town’s law enforcement.”
The current NHDOT traffic study doesn’t anticipate a massive increase in truck traffic and they hope to start construction for the Stonehenge Project in 2025.
According to Town Manager, Mike Malaguti, the $1 million portion the town is contributing has been already acquired.
There was $470,071 received by the town from the State of NH as an increase in Municipal Aid in 2020 and another $520,000 received from the State as a Highway Block grant in 2017.
There was $210,553 accepted as unanticipated revenue with resolution 2020-07.
The $470,071 was originally accepted as $265,553, but $55,000 was paid to the State of NH for preliminary engineering in May of 2020. Another $259,518 was accepted through the March 2020 Ballot as Warrant Article 8.