Business & Tech

Traffic Plans Put into Place for Weekend

Police will perform dry run at Merrimack Premium Outlets today.

It's going to be a busy few days for local and state police as Merrimack plays host to dueling large-scale events expected to bring more than 100,000 people to town over Father's Day weekend.

On Thursday, yes, this Thursday, the Merrimack Premium Outlets will kick off its four-day grand opening celebration at 9 a.m. Then, on Friday, Nashua Rotary West's annual Rock'n Ribfest will get underway.

Both events conclude Sunday.

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In an effort to prepare for how they will handle traffic around the Outlets, police will be out in the vicinity of Industrial Drive today around 2 p.m. to conduct a dry run of a special traffic management plan approved by the Town Council on Thursday.

The plan includes stationing officers at major intersections and deactivating traffic lights to help ease vehicles through to the 100-store shopping center.

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While meeting with the Town Council on Thursday, Police Chief Mark Doyle, said there will be officers stationed at the intersections with the Exit 10 off ramps from the F.E. Everett Turnpike on Industrial Drive. Two more will be stationed at the intersection of Industrial Drive with Spartan Way and Premium Outlets Boulevard, and two more at the intersection of Industrial Drive and Continental Boulevard. There will also be an officer directing traffic in front of 40 Continental Boulevard, which will be used for overflow parking from the site should it be needed.

As part of the plan, parking will be prohibited on Industrial Drive, Greens Pond Road, Camp Sargent Road and Continental Boulevard from Contra Way (the West Entrance to Fidelity Investments) to Tallant Road (the Merrimack Village District sheds).

Traffic has also been restricted, Doyle said, to local traffic only.

A caveat made earlier at the Thursday meeting to a new special event and traffic management ordinance, will allow residents and their guests parking on the streets should they so need to during the four-day event.

Asked how police would handle pedestrians, specifically from the Fidelity, which is the closest business to the mall, Doyle said he didn't anticipate significant problems with pedestrian traffic.

He explained pedestrians would have to not only cross a six lane road, but walk about a mile to get from the Fidelity parking lot to the actual mall. Doyle said they will handle pedestrians as needed and Fidelity has been in contact with its employees to warn against trying to walk to the mall.

"It becomes a very hazardous situation for anybody on the road to try to make their way or navigate that minefield, if you will, of vehicles and it could be very dangerous," Doyle said.

A press release from Merrimack Police at the end of last week also reminded residents to expect traffic delays on Daniel Webster Highway on Sunday morning while the Ribfest 5-mile race is underway.

The race begins just after 9 a.m. and concludes at approximately 11 a.m. The course of the race will run from the Merrimack Anheuser-Busch Brewery northbound on Daniel Webster Highway to Island Drive and back to the
brewery. During the race the right lane northbound and the northbound breakdown lane will be closed. Traffic posts will be set up at several intersections along the course.

Residents and motorists can monitor any traffic advisories or warnings from the Merrimack Police Department using NIXLE.com. There is no cost to sign up for Nixle and it will send email or text alerts to your inbox. The notices will go to your cell phone and/or email account. (Standard text messaging rates appy).

Stay tuned to Patch, as well as to the Merrimack Police Facebook and Twitter pages for traffic pattern changes, and monitor signage posted on the roadways around both events for direction and parking information.

In terms of handling traffic for the weekend on top of policing the community as it normally would, all hands will be on deck. Merrimack Police will be assisted by Nashua, Bedford and State Police in executing their traffic mitigation plan, Doyle said.


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