Walpole Petitioners Seek to Reduce Truck Traffic

By Chuck Bingaman, Contributing Writer

            John and Connie McGuirk of Upper Walpole Road, with aid and support from John’s brother Paul McGuirk, are circulating petitions to ask the New Hampshire Department of Transportation to bar heavy truck traffic from Upper Walpole Road after the new Rt. 123 bridge is completed over the Cold River later this year.

            John and Connie McGuirk are seeking signatures of all Upper Walpole Road residents, and Paul McGuirk is circulating petitions for signatures of other town residents that support their concerns. 

            “It may be a long shot to get the DOT to act, but we think it’s necessary to make the effort,” Paul McGuirk noted last week. “The added heavy truck traffic on Upper Walpole Road in the past two plus years has been very hard on the residents and on the road.”

            Since the collapse of the Rt. 123 Cold River Bridge in the flood of October 2005, all Rt. 123 traffic has been diverted to Upper Walpole Road, including dozens of heavy trucks each day.  Residents of the road have complained from the beginning about the increased traffic and noise of the diversion.