I-93 construction

[chipj29]

Well, if you take 93 North to get to the lake, your Friday afternoon drives might become a bit longer. I’ll explain…
As you all know, the project to widen 93 from Salem to Manchester is still in progress. The work is complete from the MA border up past Exit 3. As of now, work is in progress for the entire stretch from the weigh station all the way to 293 in Manchester. Here is what I see on a daily basis going through that area. Red text suggests where you might see some traffic issues.

93N from the border to exit 3 is a breeze, way better than it ever was. Once you get up to the weigh station, that is where the fun begins. Right at the weigh station in Windham, 3 lanes cuts down to 2 lanes. There is usually a backup there, although it moves fairly quickly. Then you get just a bit north of there and you are in the work area that goes into Londonderry. Expect slow traffic there. Next you get into the exit 4 area, which is the project to widen the stretch from exit 4 to the Ash St bridge. They will be replacing the NH 102 bridge over 93 at exit 4, as well as the Ash St bridge over 93. Expect a backup right at exit 4. The next project in progress is from the Ash St bridge north almost to exit 5. Expect a backup anywhere in that area. But wait, there’s more! From just north of exit 5 up to 293 is the last of the widening projects. Expect a backup just north of exit 5.

Once you get past 293, then you are in the clear until Bow/Concord for the typical traffic back up. After you clear Concord, you should have clear sailing up until exit 20. And here is where you might not be pleased. A 2 year project to replace the I-93 bridges over the Winni River/Railroad. See below.

NORTHFIELD-TILTON – This project rehabilitates the I-93 northbound and southbound bridges that carry I-93 over the Winnipesaukee River and the railroad. The work involves complete deck replacements, as well as substructure concrete repairs and scour protection work in the river. Traffic will be maintained by a series of traffic control phases that construct temporary diversions in the medians to shift one lane of northbound traffic onto the southbound side during the northbound bridge deck replacement, and then shifts a lane of southbound traffic onto the northbound side during the southbound deck replacement. The project’s schedule has the northbound bridge being done in 2017 and the southbound bridge in 2018. Other than short-term off peak lane or shoulder closures, two lanes of traffic will be maintained in both directions, although speed limits will be reduced due to temporary narrowing of lanes and the shifting of one lane of traffic from one side to the other.

https://www.nh.gov/dot/media/documen...n-projects.pdf

In short: expect some pretty lengthy Friday afternoon commutes to the lake. I would strongly recommend leaving Friday mornings, or late Friday nights. I can’t speak to the southbound trip on Sunday afternoons, as I am never there, but I can’t imagine it will be any easier.

[chipj29]

So how did it go for everyone this weekend?
One thing to note: the word is out on Rt 3A (exit 10 off of I-93) up to exit 12. A lot of people are taking 3A to try to avoid the I-93 traffic. On Friday afternoon it was backed up almost the entire length. Personally I avoid it, even though I live right off 3A. On Friday afternoons I take a super-secret "short cut" that helps me avoid the traffic completely. The downside is it is a bit longer, but the huge upside is not having to crawl up 3A. It is very back-roady and way off the beaten path. And nope, not giving this one out, even if siksuker guesses it correctly.

[Doobs41378]

We go 28N all the way up. You come out at the Alton traffic circle.

[Top-Water]

Originally Posted by chipj29

I take a super-secret "short cut"

There are no more secret short cuts anymore with google. http://bfy.tw/C5UA

The best one would be to live here all year round.

Some how "Getting Here" no mater how bad the traffic was never bothered me. It just seemed to make it all that much sweeter when you finally arrived and could see the water. .... Going home ....... well that's a different story. I think we all have cranky face on when we have to leave.

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by chipj29

So how did it go for everyone this weekend?
One thing to note: the word is out on Rt 3A (exit 10 off of I-93) up to exit 12. A lot of people are taking 3A to try to avoid the I-93 traffic. On Friday afternoon it was backed up almost the entire length. Personally I avoid it, even though I live right off 3A. On Friday afternoons I take a super-secret "short cut" that helps me avoid the traffic completely. The downside is it is a bit longer, but the huge upside is not having to crawl up 3A. It is very back-roady and way off the beaten path. And nope, not giving this one out, even if siksuker guesses it correctly.

I know everything. But I will not give it up Mr Chip.

[MeredithMan]

Originally Posted by chipj29

So how did it go for everyone this weekend?

...."It's a cruel, cruel sum-mer...."

Normally, my commute is 2 hours, door-to-door, with no stops. Last Friday, I left at 2PM, and it was just over 3 hours. I hate to think what it would've been if I had left at 4, 5, or 6PM. 495 was crawling, even at 2PM, so I hopped off and went back roads that dumped me on to Rte 3, which wasn't bad until the usual slowdown in Merrimack. Once cleared of that, it flowed well until the Hooksett toll, which was a crawl all the way to Concord. Fearing more slowdowns up to exit 23, I jumped off onto 106, which was fine all the way to Meredith.

Returning, I waited till Tuesday and left at 6:15AM and sailed all the way down to MetroWest.

[Biggd]

Last season was bad also. We would usually leave at 5pm and go to Lago's after we got situated. Now we just go out to eat at home and leave about 8pm. I just have to limit myself to one beverage.

[Barney Bear]

There was an informative piece on WMUR's NH Cheonicle last night featuring blasting work on the I-93 project. 💣 🚧