SALEM — Keewaydin Drive and Stiles Road may be connected to create a throughway as soon as next spring.
Mark Gross, an engineer for MHF Designs, has presented plans to the town to connect the two roads. The $800,000 project aims to make land that could be used for as much as 350,000 square feet of office space more appealing to developers, he said.
Gross met with the town Conservation Commission last week and must get approval for the road from the state Department of Environmental Services and the Environmental Protection Agency, because of the proximity to prime wetlands. But Gross said the environmental aspects of the project were expected to be resolved.
"We are well on our way with the environmental issues," he said. "Now we'll have to get Planning Board approval."
Town Planner Ross Moldoff said connecting the two roads would help alleviate traffic congestion in the area by giving drivers on Keewaydin Drive an outlet other than the already heavily traveled Pelham Road.
"The road connection would be a very positive thing in terms of traffic." Moldoff said.
Gross said the project would cost an estimated $800,000, and would ideally be done by next spring.
"We want to be up and running with a road by spring so we can be ready when development comes back," he said.
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