IMPACTS / TRAFFIC
The potential impacts of truck traffic in downtown Russell is simple to assess and nearly as simple to mitigate. At this time there is no alternative route to Main Street for trucks to deliver wood chips to Russell Biomass. This means a truck will travel a half mile through town on Main Street on its way to or from the plant approximately once every four minutes during a typical weekday. (There are no Saturday or Sunday fuel deliveries.)
We are as concerned as anyone about the possibility of adding to the truck traffic on Main Street. But the Town officials have an option at their disposal to approve -- an alternate access route around Turtle Bend Mountain that would allow the town to eliminate all non-essential truck traffic from Main Street. (That is, the Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting could enact a statute approving the alternate access road and banning all trucks except those making local deliveries and emergency vehicles from the town center.) This would remove from Main Street both Russell Biomass wood fuel trucks as well as trucks not associated with Russell Biomass, including those currently using Main Street as the only route through the town center.
In response to a request from the Selectmen Russell Biomass has evaluated and mapped the alternate route and offered to pre-pay future taxes above $300,000 per year to the town to fund construction of the roadway.