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Loudon residents get chance to weigh in on race day traffic



LOUDON — Residents will be soon be asked whether changes are needed to lessen the impact on the town and Route 106 from NASCAR races at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

As part of the town’s coming master plan update, a survey will be conducted next month asking residents for their opinions on town land usage, housing, transportation, conservation and several other issues.

Among the transportation questions are three that came from speedway planners, said Loudon Administrative Assistant Donna White.

One asks if residents would support a Saturday night NHMS race to shorten a race weekend’s impact on the area. Another asks if residents would support the idea of installing lights to help extend the NASCAR event day in case of rain to eliminate a delay of the race until Mondays.

The third question asks if the town would support improvements and the widening of Route 106 to improve traffic flow on NHMS race days.

One road-related question comes from the state Department of Transportation’s Route 106 Corridor plan that asks if residents agree that traffic lights and improvements are necessary at the intersection of Route 106, Staniels Road and Josiah Bartlett Road.

Another asks if traffic lights and improvements are needed at the intersection of Route 106, Chichester Road and South Village Road.

The question about the Staniels Road intersection is of particular interest to many residents, White said, because there have been many accidents there, including at least one fatal crash.

The survey will be included in the October edition of the town’s newsletter, the Loudon Ledger, and the town will be sending notices to all residents asking them to use the town’s preferred method, a survey application that will be on the town’s website, she said.

“When they did the survey at the last master plan update in 2001 there was a great response,” White said.

Towns are required to update their master plan — a long-range plan for communities — every 10 years. The plan update will likely take 1-2 years to complete, White said. The survey questions will be compiled and made public in November, she said.

The survey will help town and state planners with plans for town and state roads, but residents shouldn’t expect to see changes in the roads anytime soon.

The corridor study has no funding available, and many of the roads in question are state-owned and are low on the state’s budgeting priority list, said Michael Dugas, chief of preliminary design, at the DOT’s Bureau of Highway Design.

“It’s establishing a plan for what Route 106 could look like in the future,” Dugas said.

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Dan Seufert may be reached at dseufert@newstote.com.




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