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I-93/Lowell Junction Development Area Background

The Junction/Route 93 Development Area represents one of the largest concentrations of employment in Northeastern Massachusetts. Situated between Exit 41 (Route 125) and Exit 42 (Dascomb Road), achieving a Lowell Junction Interchange has the potential of opening up hundreds of acres of currently landlocked and grossly underutilized industrial land as well as allowing for expansion of existing industries in the area who are constrained by poor access to the interstate.

Over the past twenty years, the Town of Andover has been unsuccessful in its attempt to obtain approval for an interchange at the Lowell Junction area to service facilities currently occupied by Gillette/Proctor & Gamble, Wyeth BioPharma, Charles River Labs, AGFA Films and other existing businesses employing approximately 6,000 workers. The failure to obtain such approval has impeded the expansion of those users, most notably Wyeth BioPharma. Several attempts have been made by the Town of Andover for construction of new on and off ramps to connect to northbound lanes of I-93 to the Burtt Road extension, however these requests have repeatedly been denied citing the proposed improvements at the Route 125/Ballardvale Road interchange and the failure of the ramps to constitute a “Full Interchange”.

Recognizing the potential economic development benefits that may result from a new interchange in this development area, the three communities, Andover, Tewksbury and Wilmington have agreed to pursue the approval, design and construction of a new full-service interchange at The Junction Development Area, between Exits 41 & 42.

In 2001-2003 the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (MVPC) with funding from MassHighway and FHWA undertook an “Interstate 93 Corridor Study”, which examined the feasibility of widening of I-93, providing improvements to the interchanges along the I-93 corridor and adding a new interchange in the Lowell Junction area between Exit 41 (Route 125) and Exit 42 (Dascomb Road).

Where the Corridor Study focused on the engineering feasibility of providing an interchange between exits 41 and 42 and had concluded that a Lowell Junction interchange was feasible, MassHighway and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) had recommended to MVPC that further analysis of a Lowell Junction interchange be investigated. Rather than include these additional interchange analyses as part of the I-93 Corridor Traffic Study, MassHighway and FHWA requested a stand-alone document evaluating alternatives for a new interchange be prepared. In response to MassHighway and FHWA, MVPC prepared a scope of services to conduct an interchange justification study and to prepare an Interchange Justification Report (IJR). In short, the scope of the IJR includes an analyses of up to ten roadway concepts, traffic volumes, traffic operations, construction cost estimates, environmental impacts, safety issues along the mainline (I-93) and will address how each interchange alternative would satisfy the eight requirements as established by the FHWA for a break in access.

The Route I-93/Lowell Junction Interchange Justification Study (IJR) was undertaken by the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission on behalf of the Merrimack Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization, in collaboration with the Towns of Andover, Tewksbury and Wilmington. The IJR is intended to provide a preliminary evaluation of the transportation, environmental and other impacts that would arise from the construction of an interchange on I-93 in the Lowell Junction area of Andover, Wilmington and Tewksbury. It marks the first step in the process of receiving Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approval of a new interchange at this location.

The IJR includes many comments that were received by the Merrimack Valley MPO during the public review and comment period for the draft study, which was completed late in May 2006. The report has since been forwarded to the Executive Office of Transportation, which is responsible for submitting the Interchange Justification Report to FHWA. Should FHWA officials determine that the information contained in the IJR meets their criteria for constructing a new interchange, approval will be given for the Massachusetts Highway Department to undertake additional analyses, which would likely include the preparation of an Environmental Impact Study.

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