The $1.4 Million Western Ave. bridge is scheduled to be completed in the early fall of 2017. Now we have to face this fact: Western Ave. from the bridge to the town line has to be rebuilt.
The Road Management committee is now putting the final touches on the most comprehensive evaluation of our roads that I have seen in the sixteen years I have lived here.
We are now, for the first time, faced with some cold hard facts regarding Western Ave.; FIX IT OR CLOSE IT!
Western Ave. is that bad and the solution is just that simple. In fact the cost to repair and/or rebuild of all our 51 miles of paved roads over the next decade may just be prohibitive…the committee has even discussed returning some of them back to their original dirt and gravel form (across the board tax increases do have consequences).
History of Western Ave. is fascinating. It once was part of the U.S. Interstate Highway system. From 1934 to 1960’s Western Ave. was U.S. Interstate 202.
U.S. 202, from Delaware to Maine, transverses Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire. She has a proud history. Her route here in Henniker was chosen to course next to the beautiful Contoocook River, making it on of the most picturesque sections of the entire highway. (read history here)
It is time to give this grand old lady a facelift….she is what makes our community so special…Let’s not let her down!
ohb