Windham/Salem Exit 3 on 93

MonopolyBag

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The new ramps on Windham and Salem at exit 3 seem to be paved now. The new bridges are impressive nice with the new fake brick walls (I like them a lot) looks cheap yet nice better than cement.

the new 93 expansion will be awesome. Both make the highway nicer as well as travel easier. Can't wait. The overpass in Windham/Salem on 111 was one great thing they did. They even made a bike path bridge for the Windham rail trail! But that's old news. The new exit will fix the stupid Exit 3 ramp going South 93 and begin the 93 expansion form exit 1 - Manchester!
 
Two articles in the NH Eagle Tribune about Windham development.

Rt 111 and Rt 111A a new 8,000 s/f office, retail, and cafe 2 story building and a 2,400 s/f bank are up for the planning board to allow developers to build them. A few other projects to come down the road as well.

They (whoever this is) claim it will be walkable, but located in Windham, this could mean simply they have doors for pedestrians to enter the building. But it was said it is going to be like a village and have brick sidewalks.

The highway development and recent population growth has sparked interest in developers and Windham is not giving in to having places be built.

A recent gas station, gym, and other retail opened next to the new Dunkin Donuts on 111.= only a few months back.

I really hope that the town does not over do it and it ends up looking like Rt 28 in Salem or South Willow in Manchester.

Also mentioned was first workforce housing development. I actually didn't read much into this article as it didn't seem as interesting. I guess the point is Windham is growing, and is during the tough economy.
 
Last time I went down to Boston it didn't seem as though the bridges had enough room for 4 lanes each way. Wasn't that part of the plan?
 
I think actually there will be only three lanes as there are only 2 now.

Exit three there are some new bridges, and yes I agree with you. There seems to be room for only one way. I am not sure if another bridge will be constructed or what.

However, elsewhere I can see the road clearly having enough room for lanes, and the highway has better construction (ie. drainage, turns, under bridges, etc.) So i think there is a good chance a new bridge will be built.

The exit ramps are all getting updates. A new traffic light at Exit three. I like the way the bridges are built now with the sectional fake brick vs. the cement. It looks better and looks as if it is plastic or something so it should last looking good longer than cement which would get dirty and start to break down when not replaced on a regular bases.

Maybe I should have posted this link in the first post I had.
http://www.rebuildingi93.com/
 
Oh, one last thing, apparently the Boston Express 9which I am both a fan and user of) is part of the i93 expansion and yet another station is being built I believe.

I like this bus as it seems very direct serving NH hitting all but only the major parts. I would like to see them expand offering services elsewhere in NH to possibly Portsmouth, Keene, Conway, and maybe Potland ME all from NH.
 
Sorry I am posting so many times, but I do not think that that seems to be a problem on these boards.

Check out this link, http://www.rebuildingi93.com/documents/TypicalSection.pdf. Kind of interesting. So I guess some of the highway may be four lane. But I am glad to see that at least people are thinking this way. If America ever incorporates rail the way they should, following our highway system, below, above, or next to (like this one) is the easiest way.
 
The entire length of 93 from Salem to Manchester will be 4 lanes. What we're seeing at Exit 3 is the construction of the new northbound lanes. The southbound lanes will be switched over to that side for a few years this fall. When that happens, the current southbound lanes will be widened off line. Upon completion of the widening, the current northbound lanes will no longer be used and the proper configuration will be restored. This whole area is going to look very different five years from now. The temporary crossovers to the new lanes don't appear very wide though. The Exit 5 area is going to go through a similar construction method.
 
Thanks, and yes. This is hat I got form reading online once you mentioned it may be four lanes. I am surprised it will be four as I think this is not needed as there is hardly any traffic on 93 ever.
 
You're welcome. I know looking at the construction site in it's current state makes it hard to picture what it will look like. The rebuildingi93 site has a wealth of info as well as before/after pics of that area.

93 needs four lanes because it actually does have a lot of traffic. It is a very dangerous road because of its current width. Just look at the guardrails. They all have huge dents in them. Also, when an accident happens, the whole highway comes to a halt because there's no way around it. Drive on it during rush hour or a Sunday night southbound, it is bad.

This is why I support commuter rail in addition to the widening. The widening will create a safer highway and the train will take additional commuters off the roads.
 
OK, maybe it rarely has bumper to bumper traffic aside from rush hour, but I guess the actual number of cars it gets is great. I hate 2 lanes though because the left is the fast and the right is where ramps merge. Either way, 3 or 4 I do think it will be an improvement and I like the new Boston Express.
 
Well, this is a Salem post, not on the highway 93 work, but Salem related rather than adding a new thread.

I read a post on FB of a friend, that Mike's Red Barn in Salem is closing. I really liked this place, best sausage ever!

So I am not 100% sure it is true, but will post once i drive by and take a look for myself.

They claim it was because of the economy, but I know McKinnon's in Salem didn't help. (IMO Mike's was much better)
 
And it is closed for good. Saw it in the new paper. and drove by, an innocent "customer" walked to the door, and then froze. Then read, and walked back to their car. Sad times.
 
Does anyone know why they didnt have the airport access road connect to I-93? Seems like it only would have been another mile, if that of highway. Also are there going to be any exits off of the airport access road and what are they calling it?...
 
Does anyone know why they didnt have the airport access road connect to I-93? Seems like it only would have been another mile, if that of highway. Also are there going to be any exits off of the airport access road and what are they calling it?...
The airport is closer to rte 3.
 
M.Brown, thanks for responding to my post. I understand that Route 3 is closer to the airport. My point is that the access road could also have been a short cut to I-93/Londerry if you are coming from Nashua or Merrimack.I was just wondering why the state wouldnt connect the airport access road directly to I-93 instead of dumping it out on Sheffield Rd or whatever road the access road ends at. This way people going to the airport from the south eastern part of Manchester area would not be using Brown Ave or even I-293.
 
I think that would be smart to have more direct access to the airport. Personally, I hate how there are no bridges into Merrimack without going all the way to Manchester or through Nashua. The new airport exit will do little to help.

And I bet there is no continuation of the airport exit to 93 because it is so close to 293. They would expect 93 traveler to go along 293 then down 3. Prior to this new road, there has been no direct highway access.
 
Well, the construction of the building off of Exit three has begun, across the street the one floor building has been renovated, no tenants yet.

New Exit 3 off-ramp going southbound is open and much safer.

And lastly, this could go in a few other threads, but it has to do with 93, the Boston Express bus I recently discovered only leaves Londonderry, Manchester, and Concord only three times throughout the day, while North Londonderry and Salem have many many buses throughout the day.

Why is this? Does anyone know? It is VERY inconvenient for those in Concord and Manchester.
 
And lastly, this could go in a few other threads, but it has to do with 93, the Boston Express bus I recently discovered only leaves Londonderry, Manchester, and Concord only three times throughout the day, while North Londonderry and Salem have many many buses throughout the day.

Why is this? Does anyone know? It is VERY inconvenient for those in Concord and Manchester.

It has to do with the lack of parking at the Manchester bus terminal. When all those park-and-ride facilities were built, Boston Express cut service to Manchester. It basically runs now as a commuter service from Manchester suburbs to Boston. The stupidity of that is pretty obvious--a lot of people taking the bus either don't have cars or are being picked up/dropped off, so the lack of parking shouldn't be an issue.

Also, I see no reason why a bus can't pick up people in Manchester who aren't leaving cars behind, then stop in Londonderry to pick up auto commuters. Maybe one reason is the low capacity of a bus, which is another reason to root for a commuter rail. The state built and maintains the park-and-ride facilities, and owns the buses used by Boston Express, so the excuse by a small minority of residents (but a majority of current legislators) that rail is subsidized is pretty moot. Manchester and Concord, as well as Nashua, need rail if for no other reason than that their city centers are currently under-served by private bus companies that the state helps fund. Of course, there are plenty of other good reasons for commuter rail on top of that.
 
So it seems that the Federal Government is having trouble paying the money requested by the state to complete the 93 project.

The new bridge, which looks like it eventually will be Northbound, is open, currently to southbound travelers at the Exit three area. Much work has been getting done on this project recently, with new paved areas and many bridges being redone and ready for the widened highway. Hopefully they figure out this quite vital funding problem.

As much as there are other transportation projects that I feel should be funded and looked at (commuter rail, expanded bus routes, new Manchester transportation station, bikes paths,) the highway could use some attention and I am glad to see what they are doing, including the Boston Express line which has been very convenient multiple times for me and others I know.
 

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