Route 12 project 'tearing' local business apart
Widening has pluses and minuses for community
The long-awaited widening of Route 12 in Fitchburg and Leominster is sure to cause some disruption to the commercial corridor, but, at a North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce meeting this morning, MassHighway engineers assured local business owners that they will work with them to make the process as painless as possible.
Although the project started less than two weeks ago, some business owners said they are already having problems. John Fanelli of Rayco Motors, on the corner of Route 12 and Bemis Road, said workers are digging up more of his property than he had expected.
"They agreed to take so much land, and now they're taking more," he said. "They're tearing me right apart."
Not all bad
But others said their experience so far has been good. Fredrick D. Healey, president and CEO of Workers Credit Union, said people traveling to their Fitchburg offices have faced fewer delays than he had expected.
"I wanted to express our appreciation for the way traffic is flowing now," he said.
Participants at the meeting, including Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella, said they want to be kept informed as the project moves forward so that people can take alternate routes on days when traffic is expected to be bad without disrupting business more than necessary.
The engineers said they will work with the chamber to make sure updates are posted regularly at www.fixroute12.com, a web site devoted to the project.
The project is expected to continue until early 2009.
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