Up to 60 eighteen-wheeler trucks will be leaving per day from the USA Springs Inc. site in West Nottingham when it is operating at full capacity, according to long-range plans on record, with a similar number returning each day.

Big trucks from water bottling plant in Moultonborough, NH. (click for full image)

Most of the trucks will travel east to Lee Circle, while a small percentage will turn west on Route 4 (see Route 4 map). Neighborhood Guardians have raised several concerns:

(1) One concern is that no acceleration lane is planned for eastbound trucks leaving the site (see Blow-Up map). The trucks will be chugging along in the line of traffic, where the speed limit is 55 mph and passing is allowed. About a third of the traffic accidents in Nottingham occur along Route 4 (see table below):

(2) Another concern is the danger posed to vehicles making left-hand turns off Route 4. Those of us who live in the neighborhood are already aware of how dangerous waiting for traffic to clear can be. Imagine more big trucks trying to get by while you wait.

Connections without turning lanes include Freeman Hall Road and Revolutionary Drive (westbound left turns) and Lincoln Drive and Merry Hill Road (eastbound left turns) (See Route 4 map). Revolutionary Drive and Merry Hill are especially dangerous because westbound traffic narrows from two to one lane at the crest of the hill.

(3) The site plan review overlooks the impact of 60 big, heavy trucks. The USA Springs site plan addressed the traffic question only by looking at total traffic counts. They concluded that 60 trucks/day would only represent about a 1% increase.

But these counts ignore the make-up of the traffic. One of our volunteers counted categories of eastbound vehicles on Tuesday September 26 and Thursday September 28 Results are summarized in the table below.

Adding 60 trucks per day would greatly increase the total of big trucks! The number of big trucks per hour ranged from 9 in the morning to 22 in midday and only 4 in the late afternoon. Assuming that the additional 60 trucks would enter traffic at even intervals throughout the day, they would represent an increase of 75% (7 to 8AM), 30% (noon to 1PM) and 166% (3-4PM).

Note that the increase will be most noticeable during school bus and commuting hours, early and late in the day. As it is, most big trucks pass the site in the middle of the day.

School buses turning from Freeman Hall Road onto Route 4, east of the site. (click for full image)