[mcdude]

Laconia Daily Sun

Site of new Meredith Rite-Aid
MEREDITH — With an alternative design for the store they seek to build on Route 25 in hand, representatives of the Rite-Aid Corporation returned to the Planning Board this week where they were met by some 20 residents of Meredith Bay Village warning that the project would exacerbate already dangerous traffic conditions on the heavily travelled highway.
At the same time, Frank Montero of MHF Design Consultants, told the board that Rite-Aid's lease at the Meredith Shopping Center will expire at the end of the year and the firm was considering operating temporarily at 343 Daniel Webster Highway until the new store was completed.
"Maybe they should put the whole shebang over there," quipped board member Lou Kahn.
Concerns about traffic, in particular the location of the entrance to the drugstore, have dogged the project since it was first presented it to the board for a design review last December. The 15,000-square-foot store would be built on a 2.77-acre lot between the Irving travel plaza and the Trinity Episcopal Church The plan presented this week featured a shared driveway serving both Rite-Aid and Irving, which would be directly opposite Abbey Lane, the entrance to Meredith Bay Village.
Initially the entrance was planned for northeast corner of the site. When the Planning Board reviewed the design in January, members suggested instead that Rite-Aid share the driveway with Irving. Frank Montero of MHF Design agreed that a shared entrance was preferable, but said that Cobalt Properties, which owns the Irving site, had not responded to overtures from Rite-Aid.
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT) also preferred a shared entrance, but failing that recommended the entrance be located as far from Irving's driveway as possible. However, DOT ultimately rejected the plan, prompting Rite-Aid to make a fresh approach to Cobalt, which led to the latest design featuring the shared driveway.
Jeffrey Dirk, a traffic engineer with Vanasse & Associates, Inc. of Andover, Mass., said that in addition to relocating the entrance Rite-Aid will propose placing a pedestrian crossing equidistant between the two driveways serving the Irving travel plaza, which are approximately 200 feet apart. He explained that pedestrian crossings cannot be placed at intersections without signals because they do not control traffic or within 100 feet of an intersection. He said the crossing would be marked by a signal that flashed yellow after a pedestrian pressed a button then turned red allowing the pedestrian to cross.
The DOT must approve both the shared driveway and the pedestrian crossing. With the driveway issue unresolved, Rite-Aid has yet to submit a site plan or make a formal application.
Dean Gulezian., a director of the condominium association at Meredith Bay Village, reminded the board that several years ago the association had asked the DOT to install a pedestrian crossing across Route 25 only to have their request denied. He said that although residents qualified as abutters, the association was not notified of the proposal when it was originally presented.
Town Planner Angela LaBrecque said that the town was not informed that the developer had not transferred management of the complex to the association.