Elected officials in towns along Interstate 93 between Salem and Londonderry, N.H., want the corridor widened to four lanes in each direction — not three — to improve traffic flow and commerce.
Selectmen and town councilors in several communities endorsed the widening from two lanes by signing their names to letters sent to the state Department of Transportation.
"It would be nice to see the highway built to support traffic for 2009 instead of 1969," said Kevin Coyle, a Derry town councilor.
The Derry council sent a letter to the DOT supporting the four-lane option.
Salem Selectman Elizabeth Roth said her board has not addressed the lane question. But she said she thinks the widening to four lanes is overdue.
"I think this is correcting something that should have been done long ago," Roth said.
Windham selectmen voted unanimously last week to send the DOT a letter of support for four lanes. In addition, selectmen Roger Hohenberger and Ross McLeod said they would like to see a rail line in the future.
The letters and other public comments will be part of a final supplemental environmental impact statement. The DOT is required to send the report to the Federal Highway Administration.
The report was ordered two years ago by a federal court in response to a lawsuit filed by the Conservation Law Foundation. The group brought the lawsuit over environmental concerns it identified in the original environmental impact statement.
The FHA is to consider the statement before issuing a ruling.
At a public hearing last month in Derry, a majority of the speakers urged transportation officials to reduce the planned widening from four lanes to three, lessening its environmental impact and decreasing the project's $795 million cost.
Saturday, between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m., most travelers polled at ends of the 19.8-mile widening project said they prefer four lanes. The motorists included local residents and those who travel to the state for pleasure.
At the I-93 Welcome Center in Salem, three vacationers from Quebec ate lunch at a picnic table after returning from Cape Cod.
Micheline Williams said she wants the widening done as soon as possible, and she regrets wasting her vacation time in traffic with her foot constantly on the brake.
"I would never come back on a long weekend again," she said. "My brakes need to be repaired."
Max Hekler of Hull, Mass., said Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont need a main artery for traffic to move more efficiently and benefit commerce. He would like the work to start soon to give unemployed people jobs, and to see it done in an environmentally friendly manner.
Jay Bhavanishankar of Groton, Conn., was unsure of the number of lanes he supports, but said he likes trees and wants as few cut as possible.
At the other end of the highway in Londonderry, local resident Kevin Marcotte wants four lanes.
"Traffic is bad enough as it is," he said.
Kim Nuzzo of Salem said that either way, three lanes or four, is fine with her because she knows the side roads she can take to escape traffic.
"I can get off and on a number of different ways," Nuzzo said.
Meanwhile, the Londonderry Town Council also sent the state a letter endorsing four lanes.
Council Chairman Mike Brown said the reasons for its support include improved public safety due to better traffic flow, as well as the economic boost four lanes would provide for local businesses.
In Pelham, selectmen's Chairman Bob Haverty said he thinks four lanes will provide better access for residents and to local businesses.
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