Town Opens New I-93 on-Ramp

By Alexandra Mayer-Hohdahl, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.

Oct. 30–WILMINGTON — A North Wilmington intersection that once ranked among the 10 worst in Greater Lowell has undergone a drastic face-lift.

State officials yesterday opened a new ramp off Ballardvale Street that will discharge drivers directly into the northbound lane of Interstate 93, instead of having them hazard through oncoming traffic.

“Not only will this improve the flow of traffic, but it will also substantially improve safety at the interchange,” Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen said in a statement.

The new ramp is the culmination of congestion-easing plans dating back to the late 1980s. Vehicles traveling west on Ballardvale Street, which is also known as Route 125, previously had to turn left into opposing traffic and head south before getting onto I-93 North.

“Project by project, we are rebuilding our road and bridge network,” MassHighway Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky said in a statement.

The $5.5 million improvement of the intersection, which began in 2005, will also include a new traffic

signal and the widening of Ballardvale Street — a roadway that serves many of Wilmington’s biggest businesses.

MassHighway expects to complete that work in the late spring or early summer of next year.

“This is a strategic improvement that will move traffic more efficiently in an extremely busy area,” Sen. Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican whose district includes Wilmington, said in a statement.

“The new ramp is an important step in modernizing our region’s … infrastructure.”

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