Using Route 93 Project to Prepare for Windham’s Future
August 1, 2008
Pelham-Windham News
The future growth of Windham and how best to prepare for it is a frequent topic of discussion at selectmen’s meetings. The latest session relating to this issue involved town officials considering how best to use the ongoing Route 93 construction project to make those plans more efficient and less costly.
During the Monday, July 21 board meeting, Windham Highway Agent Jack McCartney raised the issue of the State Department of Transportation (DOT) digging two trenches that would run under Route 93, just south of the Weigh Station (north of Exit 3). The purpose of those two separate trenches would be to allow one path for water pipes, the other as a conduit for utilities such as cable, electric and phone. Under the current agreement with the DOT, the cost of construction would be paid by the state, while the Town of Windham would be assessed the cost of the pipes.
McCartney said the total cost to Windham taxpayers would be $15,407 for the water pipes; $10,276 for pvc conduits for other utilities. Four rows of pvc conduit would be required to do the project, while one row of water pipes would be needed to complete the job. Currently, water pipe costs 21 cents a running foot; while pvc conduit is four cents per foot, McCartney said. About 2,800 feet of conduit (four rows) would be needed, while approximately 600 to 800 feet of water pipe would be needed.
Selectmen were clearly divided on how much pipe should be laid under the highway. The final vote, which came after considerable debate, was three selectmen in favor of laying all five pipes, and two opposed. Voting in support of informing the DOT that Windham is in favor of laying five pipes under Route 93 during the road construction were Chairman Dennis Senibaldi, Bruce Breton and Charles McMahon. Opposed to putting in all five pipes as a single project were Selectmen Roger Hohenberger and Galen Stearns.
“At a minimum, we need to let the state know that the town is interested,” Senibaldi said, noting that it will be a couple of years before the money to fund the pipes would be needed. Senibaldi said whether one pipe or five pipes is eventually laid in that area makes no difference to the job that the DOT has to do. The state still has to do the trenching, he said.
Stearns said he’s concerned about laying water pipe under Route 93 when the Town of Windham has no public water system at the current time. Breton said he feels the job should be done as one whole package, to better prepare for “25 years down the road.”
“We’re talking about the future of Windham,” Breton said. “This needs to be done while 93 is already dug up.”
Hohenberger said he’d like to see the bid process for the pipes done separately as two projects, adding that he’s not sure Route 93, just below the Weigh Station is the right location. Hohenberger said he wants to have an option “for picking and choosing” which pipes to lay when the time comes to entrench them. McCartney said he agreed that it would be wise to bid the projects separately.
McMahon insisted that town officials need to plan the project in one package now, noting that it will be at least 10 years until the Route 93 reconstruction job is done.
“Windham is the dumping ground of traffic in Southern New Hampshire,” McMahon said, adding that the town should get “some benefit” from the work that’s taking place along Route 93. “We need to keep our flexibility open,” while the interstate highway is already being dug up, he said.
During the public input session of the meeting, resident and electrical engineer Tom Clarey asked why the DOT isn’t considering one giant concrete culvert, which would allow the installation of any number of conduits to run through a single pipe.
“Something big enough to walk through,” Clarey said. Clarey said this is the technique frequently used in California. Senibaldi said the DOT has said there needs to be at least 10 feet of separation between the water pipes and the pvc conduits for utilities. Clarey said it was his opinion that the electric conduits could run above the water pipes and this would eliminate the need for separate trenches. Hohenberger said he feels the cost of a single large culvert would be less cost-efficient than the separate conduits, anyway.
When questioned as to putting in conduits along the Route 111 By-Pass project, rather than under Route 93 near the Weigh Station, Windham Planning and Development Director Al Turner said that can be done at a future date, if deemed necessary for sewer lines, but that the Route 111 location isn’t far enough north to allow for efficient water flow. That should be done under Route 93, he said.
“This is not the time to get bogged down in finances,” Senibaldi said at the end of the discussion. “We can handle that down the road. We aren’t locking in anything,” he said. If the Town of Windham doesn’t allocate the money when the time for the pipes to be installed actually arrives, then fewer (than five) pipes will be laid, Senibaldi said. Following the 3 to 2 vote, Town Administrator David Sullivan was instructed to advise the DOT that Windham is interested in planning for the trenching of five pipes under Route 93 when the time for that portion of the reconstruction project arrives.