RiverPlace Traffic Presentation: A Design Review

by Tom Kuegler

1952 picture with current over-lays.

On Wednesday, April 25, the Hudson Planning Board held a public session where the main topic of discussion was the RiverPlace development and, specifically, the design review of the subdivision roadways. The planning session was split into two equal components. The first component of the meeting was a presentation by the team that was representing W/S Development Associates, the developers of the RiverPlace project. The W/S Development presentation team consisted of ten people to handle the presenting of the various components of the roadways project.

“This was our first chance, Mr. Chairman, to explain to both the board and the public the work that has been done on this project,” stated Brad Westgate an attorney with Winer and Bennett in Nashua who represent WS Development Associates, as he kicked off the presentation of the W/S Development.

The W/S Development presentation was split into three parts: overview of the existing parcels of land, the planned roadways, and an effected wetlands presentation.

The existing parcels of land component of the presentation were handled by Jim Patropolus of Hayner/Swanson, Inc., an engineering firm located in Nashua. Mr. Patropolus detailed the seven parcels of property which encompasses about 450 acres of land with the largest parcel of land being the Green Meadows Golf Course.

“My job was to present to you a little bit about the properties tonight,” stated Mr. Patropolus as he concluded his overview of the properties, “that way you can have a better understanding as we go through these planning board presentations.”

The planned roadways component of the presentation was Art Scarneo, a branch manager for Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. which specializes in traffic engineering.

Jenna Hunt

“Our firm has quite a few of our engineers and employees who live in Hudson,” stated Mr. Scarneo. “So we have a very good understanding of the traffic issues that happen near this property.”

Ron Mueller, also an employee of Greenman-Pedersen, presented a detailed plan of the roadways that were being proposed. The plan’s main component was a bypass road that would act as a bypass of traffic that is currently on Lowell Road. This bypass would also add access to the RiverPlace development.

Mr. Scarneo, as he was discussing the bypass road stated that it was “not arbitrarily put in a place to maximize the development of this project. It was put in place to provide for safe and efficient design.”

The last aspect of the presentation was completed by Jeff Cantara, a wetlands biologist with the firm of Gove Environmental Services, Inc. from Exeter. His presentation focused on the environmental impacts that the roadways and the project site would have as it is now proposed. The presentation was filled with many maps and guides that described the proposal and the topography of the land. One map that was of particular interest was an aerial view of the properties from 1952. This map showed the properties in their “original” form, before the Green Meadows Golf Course was even on the property. The statistics of the environmental impact were as follows:

6.76 acres of wetland impact are proposed.
35.2 acres of wetland will not be disturbed by the project.
82 percent of wetland impacts (5.5 acres) are the result of a proposed public highway ramp system and public connector road at the direction of NHDOT.
2.2 acres (33%) are man-made excavated ponds (e.g. water hazards for the golf course).

After the presentation by the W/S Development team, the Planning Board members took their turn asking questions and making comments about the plan. Most of the comments about the traffic flow were trying to question the overall impact to the entire town of Hudson.

These feelings were best summed up by Selectmen Maddox, who serves on the Planning Board, “You are building an attractive nuisance … We need to not only look at the minuscule acreage here but also look at the entire wetlands impact on the whole area.”

The W/S Development team delivered their first major public update on the proposed project and once the board completed their questions and comments there was a 10 minute recess. This recess allowed time to prepare for the comments from the citizens in attendance and to gauge the thoughts of the entire town.