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State DOT agrees to use only its trucks for limited-salt zone on Continental Boulevard; school signature still required
Summary
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation told the Merrimack Town Council it will limit salt spreading on a proposed low-salt/limited-salt zone on Continental Boulevard to DOT trucks, but the change will not take effect until the local school board signs a requested letter of support.
MERRIMACK, N.H. — New Hampshire Department of Transportation officials told the Merrimack Town Council on July 10 that, if the state proceeds with a proposed low-salt (limited-salt) route on Continental Boulevard, only DOT trucks will apply salt there and applications will be limited to the beginning and end of storms.
The change matters because the Merrimack Village District and town officials have sought to reduce salt applications near wellhead protection areas that provide drinking water in the Industrial Drive–Continental Boulevard corridor.
Alan Hanscomb, state maintenance engineer, described operational details: “We'll probably only be salting once at beginning of storm and after the storm,” and said the state will use ground-speed-controlled spreaders and automatic vehicle locator systems to record and report salt application. Hanscomb also told the council the DOT plans a minimum application of about 250 pounds per lane mile when it spreads salt, and that heavy snow can leave packed snow on the roadway for days under a limited-salt regime.
John Corcoran, representing the Bureau of Turnpike, said the DOT is already working with the town and the Merrimack Village District on pretreating and brine applications and that the DOT will not permit rental trucks to spread salt on the route. Corcoran listed the route limits discussed with town officials as running from the Exit 10 off-ramp/Premium Outlets intersection down Continental Boulevard to Industrial Drive.
Councilors and residents asked several practical questions about emergency response, signage and public notice. Nancy Harrington, a councilor, praised the DOT’s commitment to use only state trucks, saying it addressed a long-standing local concern about contractor-applied salt reaching wells. Councilors and department representatives discussed adding black-and-yellow “low-salt area” warning signs at either end of the corridor and using message boards and the town website to notify transient drivers.
Tom Provencher, chair of the Merrimack Village District board, reiterated that the school board must sign a requested letter before the low-salt designation can take effect. Provencher said the DOT “has committed to only using their trucks to spread salt,” but he explicitly told the council the measure “won’t happen” without the school’s signature. Town staff and MVD representatives agreed to continue outreach with the school board; MVD and the town said they would ask the school to reconsider citing liability concerns.
Officials cautioned that a limited-salt approach will make the road more likely to develop snow pack and hard pack during and after storms, and that the town will continue to receive citizen calls about road conditions. Hanscomb said the DOT’s equipment records vehicle speed and salt volume so the amount of salt applied can be quantified for the water precinct’s consultant calculations.
What happens next: MVD and town officials said they will approach the school board again, with the intention of obtaining the requested signature. The DOT’s operational commitments (use of DOT trucks, pretreating, brine, ground-speed-controlled spreaders and AVL monitoring) were stated at the meeting but the low-salt designation will not take effect until the school board signs the request letter.
