The Traffic Nightmare That Wasn't

Months of planning and preparation for two huge events in Merrimack were the key to making the weekend run as smoothly as it did.

On Sunday night, minutes after the Merrimack Premium Outlets locked up for the night, and a few hours after Rock'n Ribfest closed its gates, Merrimack Police Chief Mark Doyle said he couldn't have been happier about how well the weekend went.

What could have been traffic nightmare ended up being a smooth ride through the weekend with only a few real traffic tie-ups, Doyle said.

Thursday, the first day of the Merrimack Premium Outlets opening was the day Doyle said was probably busiest for them.

Traffic was very heavy at times though he said congested traffic never lead to any particularly significant delays thanks to the ability for police to monitor the situation and move traffic through as needed.

It was Friday after work that posed the biggest concern as Ribfest's doors opened at 4 p.m. and shoppers were expected to hit the Outlets. But Doyle said that sadly killed 24-year-old Mike LoVerme, of Merrimack, in a way helped the traffic in Merrimack, but made it a mess in Nashua.

“[The accident] seemed to push traffic off into the city and caused traffic to come more at at trickle into Merrimack,” Doyle said. “We still saw a lot of traffic, we just didn't see the huge concentration of traffic we expected.”

On Saturday, Doyle said it was more of the same. Traffic was heavy throughout the day but never overly congested. The Outlets parking lot hit capacity a few times on Saturday, but the heaviest traffic was Saturday night, beginning at 7:45 or 8 p.m., through the Outlets closing at 10 p.m., where there was a “sort of mass exodus” as shoppers headed home.

Because there were few cars traveling Industrial Drive at the time it was possible for police to expediently move cars off of the property.

On Sunday, potential for issues during the first Ribfest 5-mile road race, which shut one of the northbound lanes on Daniel Webster Highway for about two miles, ended up being minimal.

“Fortunately, the race was early on a Sunday, which isn't generally a heavy traffic time for us,” Doyle said. "Impact on traffic flow was minimal . It went very well given fact that we had plus or minus around 1,100 runners.”

In addition to a smooth execution of the traffic plan, Doyle said both events made it through without a hitch. As of Sunday night he was not aware of any arrests or anyone being taken into custody at either venue.

There was a report on Thursday of a car that was broken into and cash taken, at the Outlets, and a minor assault may have taken place between onlookers at the whoopie pie eating contest at Ribfest, but Doyle said they never made contact with the parties allegedly involved in the dispute.

“These events were very orderly and the folks participating and enjoying their time were very cooperative,” Doyle said.

The good weather may have made Ribfest the most successful event of any Ribfest in the last 10 years, he said, though final figures have not emerged yet.

“I think during the planning stages we focused so much on worst case scenario that we were really waiting for some sort of catastrophe that never happened,” Doyle said. “It was a combo of good planning that everybody put into looking at traffic management at both events and the cooperation of the people coming up to Merrimack to go to the mall and Ribfest.”

Despite some working around 16 hour days to make sure there was coverage for traffic, event patrols, and typical community patrolling, Doyle said his staff did it with a smile on their faces.

The cost associated with the special details throughout the weekend is completely paid for by the Outlets and the Ribfest.

Looking forward, Doyle said there will be a continued police presence on Industrial Drive during the weekends as they work out what traffic is going to be like there. Observations will be made as to the busiest times of day and how well traffic moves all summer long.

"As the summer goes on, the normal flow of traffic will shake out, and get we can get a better idea of what's coming in and out of town,” Doyle said.

At the end of the busy weekend, Doyle said he was happy to see it in the past and even happier that it went so well.

“It's really a testament to the officers out there,” Doyle said. “We had officers working literally 16-hours-a-day Thursday through Sunday,” Doyle said. “They knew folks coming up to visit Merrimack were going to need all the help they could get, so they put on their customer service uniforms and all in all they did an excellent job.”