‘Reality check’ should move I-93 project forward

They’ve got roughly $12 million lined up in state and federal aid for the Lowell Junction interchange. Now comes another challenge for town officials from Andover, Tewksbury and Wilmington: agreeing on what type of highway exit and surrounding development will go there.

Though Gov. Deval Patrick’s Sept. 24 appearance at Wyeth Biopharma on Burtt Road was viewed by many as a turning point in the Interstate 93 interchange, a unified vision still must be reached.

Just three days after Patrick announced the state would provide $2.4 million for the interchange project last week, a task force made up of officials from the three towns discussed how to best move forward. The state’s recent commitment unlocked federal aid of more than $9 million.

But before an actual design of the estimated $50-million-to-$55-million interchange and surrounding development is finalized, officials from Andover, Tewksbury and Wilmington will wait for early environmental and engineering work to get under way in the area, which is located in the southern-most portion of town between the Dascomb Road and Route 125 exits on I-93.

“There’s going to be a reality check,” said Bob Halpin, president of the Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council. “This will be a process now where real engineering is done and cost constraints and physical restraints will kind of lead people to a final design.”

Halpin estimated the initial environmental and engineering work — which will include an analysis of terrain, surrounding wetlands and homes — will take between a year and 18 months. If all goes according to plan, the interchange project would go out to bid within two years, with actual construction beginning about six months later.

“There are still some disagreements between the towns in terms of road layouts and interchange preferences,” Halpin said. “We all kind of agreed to put that on the back burner until the preliminary design begins.”

What type of disagreements? Mainly, how much traffic will flow through which neighborhoods, officials said.

At the forefront of Andover officials’ concerns is how the new interchange will affect traffic in Ballardvale. The three remaining design options for the interchange — a trumpet, diamond and loop shape — will all be advanced for preliminary design purposes, according to town Planning Director Paul Materazzo.

“We’re at a critical point,” said Selectman Alex Vispoli, a member of the tri-town task force. “There’s equal benefit for the three towns. There needs to be equal distribution of the way the traffic works.

“This is an issue we’ve raised about two and a half years ago,” Vispoli said. “We need to come up with a design that’s agreed to by all three towns, but that isn’t detrimental to Andover.”

Once the three towns come up with an agreement, the proposal must still receive federal approval.

Halpin, who said he anticipated more federal money as well as a multi-year funding plan from the state, was confident the tri-town task force will be able to work out their differences in the coming months.

“I think the good thing is that related to where they were a year ago, there’s more openness and receptiveness between the three towns,” Halpin said. “I think they genuinely see more opportunity. You just need to stay focused on the real concerns and the real process.”

Tri-town task force meeting

RJ Kelly Companies, based in Burlington, presented its draft vision for a 712,000-square-foot facility that would straddle the Andover-Tewksbury border at the Sept. 27 tri-town task force meeting.

Along with a proposed conference center in Wilmington and a piece of property currently owned by Simon Property Group in Tewksbury that could potentially be developed on the east side of Interstate 93, the 52-acre parcel owned by the RJ Kelly Companies would include 450,000 square feet of office space, 105,000 square feet for retail, and 155 housing units.

“The new interchange would tie right into that infrastructure, as well as expand that infrastructure,” Materazzo said. “It’s only concept. There’s still a lot of pieces left. It’s a starting point.”

Vispoli, when asked what he thought of the proposal, said he was concerned with protecting the downtown business district from potentially rival retail development. Expanding Andover’s life sciences base was also a priority, he said.

“I thought it was interesting,” Vispoli said of the draft proposal. “It’s just an idea. Overall, it’s really one idea for one parcel. The important thing is we look at the whole area.”

As different proposals for development come to the attention of the task force, Vispoli said the potential for maximizing green space, pedestrian access and the potential for adding an additional commuter rail stop must all be considered.

“There’s a lot of opportunity here,” Vispoli said. “It’s a very unique site from that perspective, with that much land.”

Meeting with Patrick’s economic development team

According to Materazzo, Patrick’s economic development team urged the three towns to pursue the state’s expediting permitting program for the proposed Lowell Junction interchange at a meeting on Sept. 25.

Known as Chapter 43D, the towns would first identify the surrounding areas where a new interchange would be built as a targeted area for commercial or industrial development. This would require Town Meeting approval in Andover.

Once designated as such, the towns would amend their permitting regulations if necessary to ensure all decisions on permitting are made within 180 days. Benefits to the town include the potential for state grant money, according to Materazzo.

“This is the state’s attempt to create expedited permitting in areas of town where everyone wants industrial and economic development,” Halpin said.

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