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Conduit under I-93 could lead to Windham's growth

By Terry Date
Staff writer
Published: July 6, 2008

WINDHAM — A widened Interstate 93 between Salem and Manchester will presumably carry travelers to destinations safer and sooner.

The town of Windham will soon decide whether to burrow under the old highway, building a passageway or conduit to carry utilities and attract commercial development to the northern part of town.

One proposed location is north of Route 111, in the area of the weigh stations at the side of I-93.

One thing is for sure, according to local officials, if the town wants the conduit installed, it's only practical to do it before the two lanes are widened to four on each side of the highway. Digging up a new highway wouldn't be an option.

In any event, the state Department of Transportation needs a decision soon on whether the town wants the conduit. That's because the highway project will soon go out to bid and the underground work needs to be part of the design, according to I-93 project leader Peter Stamnas.

"We need to meet immediately," he told Windham selectmen on June 23.

Town officials and Stamnas expect to sit down by mid-month and talk about the project. They also will talk about who would pay for it — the town, the state or both.

The price, which town highway agent Jack McCartney estimated at $50,000, would include the cost of the materials — a concrete or metal pipe at least 36 inches in diameter — and its installation.

The conduit has strong support on the Board of Selectmen, Selectman Charlie McMahon among them.

A conduit for sewer, water or utilities is critical to the long-term economic tax base of the town, McMahon said.

Board Chairman Dennis Senibaldi said the town has to plan for the future.

"And if this is an opportunity to bring in water and sewer, then it could be integral to expanding the commercial tax base in the future," Senibaldi said.

Conventional wisdom holds that municipal water and sewer attract the interest of developers, because they do not have to rely on septic systems and wells.

Meanwhile, town planning director Al Turner said the conduit could be used to carry something in the future that hasn't even been conceived of yet. Who would have foreseen the interest in fiber-optic cable years ago?

The conduit idea was first floated almost a decade ago, when the I-93 project was in the conception stage, according to Turner and McCartney.

They recalled state officials saying the state would pay to install the conduit if the town paid for the materials.

But Stamnas told selectmen recently that he believes the town would be responsible for both the conduit and its installation.

To that, Selectman Roger Hohenberger said he distinctly remembers the state agreeing that it would pay for the work.

Stamnas said he would find out more about whose responsibility payment would be.

If the town does have to pony up for the project, it remains to be seen whether townspeople would agree to do so. They would decide at Town Meeting, Town Administrator Dave Sullivan said.

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