A new weight restriction placed on two streets in Fremont is creating big roadblocks for fuel and paving companies in Epping as tension over commercial truck traffic grows between the neighboring towns.
To the surprise of Epping town officials, Fremont selectmen last month adopted a weight-limit ordinance that prohibits vehicles with a gross weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds from using Shirkin and Rogers roads.
The new rule is aimed at keeping Fremonts roads from crumbling under heavy truck traffic coming from Epping.
Shirkin Road has several businesses with heavy trucks on the Epping side but no businesses on the Fremont part of the road. The trucks and other traffic often travel a short distance on the Fremont end and turn onto Rogers Road in Fremont and then Beede Road in Epping to reach Route 101.
The route is the easiest and shortest for companies like New England Paving, which is on Shirking Road in Epping. The road is called Shirkin in Fremont and Shirking in Epping.
It definitely impacts us because a lot of our trucks are over the weight limit, said Sam Patterson, who owns the paving company with his father.
The restriction will affect other businesses, too, mainly fuel companies that operate large oil and propane trucks and have used the Fremont route for years. They will be forced to take a longer route through rural streets in Epping to get to Route 101.
Fremonts decision to adopt an ordinance that directly impacts Epping and its businesses didnt sit well with some Epping selectmen.
Epping Selectman Joe Trombley lashed out at Fremont officials at a board meeting Monday.
Im completely disgusted with the town next to us doing something like this, he said.
Trombley insisted that Epping selectmen intended to work with Fremont to come up with a reasonable solution to address the road concerns. He called the decision completely unneighborly and a slap in the face.
Epping Town Administrator Gregory Dodge said he also was disappointed the ordinance was adopted.
We wanted to be part of the solution, and we were blocked out, he said.
Epping selectmen attended a meeting with Fremont selectmen last year to begin discussions and hoped to meet again to work something out.
We were looking to work collaboratively with Fremont on a solution, said Dodge, who wished Fremont had made a last-ditch effort to meet with Epping before passing the ordinance.
Fremont road-weary
Fremont selectmen argued they moved forward with the ordinance because they had seen no action from Epping or the impacted businesses.
Fremont selectmen chairman Gene Cordes said little progress was made in the past with Epping officials and others, including the state Department of Transportation and state legislators.
Town officials eventually conducted an engineering study of the roads existing condition and capacity and discussed options with the town attorney.
Cordes said Epping had little motivation to change.
Meanwhile, our roads are getting beat up, he said.
Fremont recently had to make emergency repairs to a section of Shirkin Road and had no money for the work, Cordes said.
The best solution would be to create a frontage road that would allow the trucks from the Shirking Road businesses to easily access Route 101, he said.
The commercial development is approved in Epping, but the transportation plan is coming through Fremont, Cordes said. There really needs to be community energy pulling in the same direction here. It may take people beyond Epping and Fremont.
The ordinance allows for exemptions in some cases. For instance, a property owner or commercial business could seek an exemption if they show that the limit would entail practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship. They would also have to comply with other rules regarding bonding and restoration.
Selectmen may issue a special permit for the operation of vehicles over the 26,000-pound limit if they determined that the vehicle wont cause unreasonable damage or extraordinary expense to the roads. The owner or operator would also have to provide security through cash, letter of credit or bond in an amount that selectmen find sufficient to pay for any repairs from damage that could be caused by the vehicles.
Epping faces traffic jam
I think both sides have to meet in the middle, said Bill Fletcher, vice president of Fletchs Sandblasting and Painting on Shirking Road in Epping.
Fletcher said he understands Fremonts concerns about truck traffic.
Theyve got a good point. Its a big industrial area and they get no benefit from it, he said.
Fletcher said the turns on the Fremont route are easier for larger trucks.
He has applied for an exception from the town of Fremont to use their side as some tractor-trailers access his business.
The change in truck traffic flow caused by Fremonts ordinance also is a concern for some Epping residents, who expect to see more traffic on their roads. Their complaints are the same ones made by Fremont residents and town officials for years.
Eppings Jenness Road, one of the roads the trucks would use as an alternate route, is narrow with several tight curves, said Dave Mylott, who lives on the road.
It is already in need of repair. Forcing large heavy commercial vehicles down it will be both destructive to the road and a serious hazard to our residents and cars traveling in our neighborhood, Mylott said.
Paul Leavis, who has lived on Jenness Road for 45 years, had the same concern.
I dont think the infrastructure of this road will stand up to that traffic very long, he said.
Leavis also worries about the safety of people who walk along the street, including children on bikes.
I think theres a chance for problems, he said.
Excerpt from:
Weight loss: Fremont says Epping trucks can take their heavy loads somewhere else - The Union Leader
