Northwest Bypass Meetings Start This Week

• 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Bishop Brady High School, 25 Columbus Ave.
• 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10, at Bishop Brady High School, 25 Columbus Ave.
• 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21, at City Council Chambers, 37 Green St.

On Oct. 8, officials will focus on the Auburn Street area neighborhood. On Oct. 10, Penacook Street and the area east of the water tank, will be discussed. The November meeting will unveil the overall project presentation to the public.

At the meetings, officials are planning on presenting a conceptual corridor study and potential alternative plans for the controversial roadway expansion which proposes to run through the back of the new Winant Park, wooded areas that are currently used for trails, a city access road, across both Auburn Street and Penacook Street, and land currently owned by Lincoln Financial. The city has a right-of-way to the company's land for the bypass.

The city of Concord owns a number of parcels along the route, including the thin strips of land that abut the east and west side of Auburn Street, and the parcels that would make up a roundabout at Rumford and Penacook streets.

Concord Hospital owns 26 acres to the north of the Ridge Road extension, along the proposed route.

Other parcels are privately held, including the land owned by Lincoln, about 150 acres between the cemetery and the northern side of Little Pond Road and Penacook Road. In 2006, state transportation planners surmised that if the Northwest Bypass were to be constructed at some point in time, other development, including clusters of housing, could be constructed along parts of the route.

One of the proposals, according to planning officials, is to construct a four entrance roundabout at the intersection of Rumford and Penacook streets. The four way entrances would include the new Northwest Bypass road, both sides of Rumford Street, and the most eastern side of Penacook Street, near the Concord Boys & Girls Club. The western side of Penacook Street, under one of the scenarios, would be closed off to traffic. This would require the Penacook Street residents that abut Lincoln Financial, as well as Jennings Drive residents, to access the northern part of the city via Jennings Drive, Liberty to Rumford, or by driving up to the Northwest Bypass entrance near Columbus Avenue, according to concepts discussed earlier this year.

For decades, city and state officials, as well as business interests, have been discussing linking I-93 on the northern side of the city and I-89 on the western side of the city, in order to allow for better commuter and emergency transportation. The first part of that link, Langley Parkway, between Pleasant and Clinton streets, was mired in years of lawsuits due to environmental concerns and a homeowner on Pleasant Street, the Tuttle family, who had no interest in selling their property. The project was paid for by a public-private partnership between the city, the hospital, and St. Paul’s School, and also eventually led to the closure of Silk Farm and Dunbarton roads to the public.

State transportation officials also hope to, one day, connect Sheep Davis Road and Route 106, with I-93 and I-89, at the Bow Junction, potentially as part of the I-93 expansion project or sometime afterward, which would create a loop around the city.