Les Otten

powderstud

riverc0il;c-61386 wrote
lotsoskiing;c-61355 wrote...At 1:45 north of Lincoln and North Conway (on non-interstate), they are going to have to build something quite special to get folks to keep driving past other resorts. That drive north on Route 3 is a snooze-fest. It may be closer to Boston than Jay... but Jay gets the most snow in the northeast and is well-known for its glades, reason enough for the drive.
I've done that drive multiple times. It may be 1:45 now when there's nothing in Dixville Notch to go to, but once that changes, you can probably add an hour onto that portion of the drive. Why? Route 3 north of the notch is SLOW. You can't go fast on it...even when you theoretically can. Constant speed traps (on one trip I counted 4 speed traps between Franconia Notch and Colebrook). Then you have a number of small towns you have to go through with stoplights, etc. The road itself (last time I drove it) was not in the best of shape. Barring a new highway being constructed which make this go faster (either by turning Rt. 3 into a 4-lane highway, or constructing a new road - neither of which is going to happen), this is going to be a brutal and unpleasant drive for anyone that wants to get to Dixville Notch.

I simply do not see the Balsams project coming to fruition. And it's not just one reason why - it's many of them.

NewEnglandSkier13

powderstud;c-61390 wrote
riverc0il;c-61386 wrote
lotsoskiing;c-61355 wrote...At 1:45 north of Lincoln and North Conway (on non-interstate), they are going to have to build something quite special to get folks to keep driving past other resorts. That drive north on Route 3 is a snooze-fest. It may be closer to Boston than Jay... but Jay gets the most snow in the northeast and is well-known for its glades, reason enough for the drive.
I've done that drive multiple times. It may be 1:45 now when there's nothing in Dixville Notch to go to, but once that changes, you can probably add an hour onto that portion of the drive. Why? Route 3 north of the notch is SLOW. You can't go fast on it...even when you theoretically can. Constant speed traps (on one trip I counted 4 speed traps between Franconia Notch and Colebrook). Then you have a number of small towns you have to go through with stoplights, etc. The road itself (last time I drove it) was not in the best of shape. Barring a new highway being constructed which make this go faster (either by turning Rt. 3 into a 4-lane highway, or constructing a new road - neither of which is going to happen), this is going to be a brutal and unpleasant drive for anyone that wants to get to Dixville Notch.

I simply do not see the Balsams project coming to fruition. And it's not just one reason why - it's many of them.

Well, most people coming from the Boston area would likely be taking Interstate 95 to Route 26 to get to the Balsams. Route 26 is a fast highway in pretty good shape almost the entire way there. The only place where you have to slow down significantly is around Bethel.

newpylong

From downtown or anywhere but the North Shore it's significantly faster to take 93 and get off at 3 through Twin Mountain.

NewEnglandSkier13

newpylong;c-61394 wroteFrom downtown or anywhere but the North Shore it's significantly faster to take 93 and get off at 3 through Twin Mountain.

I guess it does look that way from downtown. I was doing the time from where I used to live on the north shore.

riverc0il

powderstud;c-61390 wroteI've done that drive multiple times. It may be 1:45 now when there's nothing in Dixville Notch to go to, but once that changes, you can probably add an hour onto that portion of the drive. Why? Route 3 north of the notch is SLOW.

There are a few town centers, but Route 3 north of F Notch is generally a 50 zone and people go WAY faster than that. I road bike a lot in that area. I will never ride Route 3 between Lancaster and Colebrook ever again. Once was enough and VT-102 is a much better ride. Traffic on Rt3 is high speed in between the town centers. People will just pass slower traffic.

I never considered ME-26 from Boston. I checked Google Maps and it looks to be 20 minutes longer than I-93 to Rt3, but about equal time for the 128/95 interchange, and faster for points north and east of there. I would say "Boston area" would definitely go I-93, where going faster than the speed limit would yield much faster times than G Maps.

I used to live in Beverly/Salem. I have also been guilty of using the proverbial "Boston area" to cover locales outside of the actually metro. North Shore is definitely not Boston Area. :D

NewEnglandSkier13

riverc0il;c-61398 wrote
powderstud;c-61390 wroteI've done that drive multiple times. It may be 1:45 now when there's nothing in Dixville Notch to go to, but once that changes, you can probably add an hour onto that portion of the drive. Why? Route 3 north of the notch is SLOW.
There are a few town centers, but Route 3 north of F Notch is generally a 50 zone and people go WAY faster than that. I road bike a lot in that area. I will never ride Route 3 between Lancaster and Colebrook ever again. Once was enough and VT-102 is a much better ride. Traffic on Rt3 is high speed in between the town centers. People will just pass slower traffic.

I never considered ME-26 from Boston. I checked Google Maps and it looks to be 20 minutes longer than I-93 to Rt3, but about equal time for the 128/95 interchange, and faster for points north and east of there. I would say "Boston area" would definitely go I-93, where going faster than the speed limit would yield much faster times than G Maps.

I used to live in Beverly/Salem. I have also been guilty of using the proverbial "Boston area" to cover locales outside of the actually metro. North Shore is definitely not Boston Area. :D

So when you lived in Beverly or Salem, if someone who lives out of state asked you where you were from, you wouldn't say the Boston area?

riverc0il

NewEnglandSkier13;c-61399 wroteSo when you lived in Beverly or Salem, if someone who lives out of state asked you where you were from, you wouldn't say the Boston area?

Like I said, I was also guilty of generalizing "Boston Area" to mean more than it actually denotes. It clearly created confusion in response to your comment that the Maine route was faster. If someone is familiar with MA, then no, I would not refer to the north shore as Boston area. Someone outside of New England, sure.

ski_it

Potato Potatoe if you ask me. Hey did you know Colebrook or Colebrooke was once the Potato Capital of New Hampshire?
Source: Wiki
They would bring it to Maine to trade for salted fish, etc,

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