Workshop tomorrow on new I-93 exit in Lowell Junction

By Brian Messenger
bmessenger@eagletribune.com

June 24, 2009 12:03 am

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ANDOVER — Although the construction of a new highway exit on Interstate 93 is years away, officials expect to know by September how the interchange will be designed.

The new exit will be built between Route 125 and Dascomb Road in an area known as Lowell Junction in a section in Andover, Tewksbury and Wilmington.

Residents who want to learn more about the project, its progress and what's next, are invited to a workshop tomorrow at the Wilmington Town Hall auditorium.

The workshop, hosted by the state's executive offices of transportation and housing and economic development, will give residents a chance to speak individually with project staff members.

"What they're hoping to get out of it is input from the public," said Andover Planning Director Paul Materazzo said. "This is an opportunity for the public to really engage MassHighway with questions in regard to traffic, wetland habitat, recreation and how recreation could be incorporated into the development."

The new exit is expected to spark the development of 180 acres in Andover and nearly 350 acres in Tewksbury and Wilmington.

Materazzo said three interchange designs remain under consideration and that hybrids of those designs are starting to evolve. A preferred design will be selected in September, he said.

Environmental reviews on the interchange site are ongoing. Surveys of surrounding utilities and infrastructure will begin this summer, Materazzo said.

The interchange project also will add a fourth lane in each direction of I-93 along a six-mile stretch between Exit 41 (Route 125) and Interstate 495.

The additional lane is expected to reduce traffic congestion during peak hours.

Currently, between Route 125 in Wilmington and the New Hampshire border, three traffic lanes and the breakdown lane are used by vehicles traveling north and south during the morning and evening commutes.

Completion of the new interchange is not expected until 2016.

Northbound access on the east side of I-93 could be achieved earlier, potentially benefiting existing Andover businesses like Wyeth and Proctor & Gamble, Materazzo said.