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What is it really?

By Kathy Leary - Hudson | Jun 20, 2020

Hillwood is proposing a “Logistics Center” for south Hudson. Sounds nice, but what is it really? It is 3 massive buildings with 2.7 million square feet of space operating 24/7. Picture three Pheasant Lane Malls placed close together! There would be approximately 350 truck loading docks, 800 parking spots for tractor trailers and over 1500 car parking spots. At 40-50 feet high, the buildings would have 120 million cubic feet of warehousing space. It could require over 14,000 truckloads to fill Buildings A and B to capacity. And you think traffic is bad now!

The 150-250 trucks per day that Hillwood says will use the facility may not sound too bad. But then why do they propose such a massive facility? A resident who works in logistics said the proposed usage would only need about 20 loading docks. However, once this plan is approved, the tenants could easily increase the number of trucks per day to maximum capacity, impacting traffic and road wear and tear.

Hillwood wants to subdivide the property into 3 lots and have their entrance (i.e. “driveway”) be a 2500 foot long town road maintained by Hudson taxpayers. Once subdivided, the lots could be leased or owned by 3 different companies, each of which could use their facility to maximum capacity. And what is maximum capacity? Based on the number of loading docks, trailer parking and turnaround times, a resident who works in logistics says the 3 building site could easily accommodate anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 trucks per day assuming a 24/7 operation! Picture the traffic going to Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, especially at the holidays. Traffic to the Tyngsboro Bridge is likely to increase as well. And, you thought traffic was bad now!

Next, picture the diesel fumes and particulates coming from these trucks at the site and as they idle in traffic at the 3 separate traffic lights on Lowell Road they will navigate to get to the highway. Forget about opening your car windows. Think of the health risks of breathing in diesel fumes and particulates. They will drift into the Merrimack River, Limit Brook, wetlands and even into our water table. Anyone with a well should be concerned.

There will be noise 24/7 including the “beep, beep, beep” of trucks backing up. Noise travels so it will be heard far and wide. If Hudson can hear noise from Home Depot across the river and the drum and bugle corps practicing at the mall, then both Hudson and Nashua residents will hear this.

Fire is another huge concern. Just this past June 5th, a three-year old Amazon facility burned to the ground near Los Angeles. Six fire departments couldn’t put it out and the building collapsed. The building was the size of only one of the three proposed here. In LA, adjacent Interstate 10 was shut down. Does Hudson have an evacuation plan should this happen here? Remember the evacuation resulting from the W.R. Grace Company toxic gas release? Will we need more fire personnel and equipment? Could Hudson handle something like this?

Hudson may think this will benefit the town through revenue and jobs, but at what cost? How much in tax incentives will Hillwood be getting? How many now-empty industrial buildings received tax help at one time? This proposal will create more problems than it claims to help solve. Just ask people in Milford, MA who are now having buyer’s remorse over the Amazon facility built there.

Let’s stop the logistics center problem before it starts. Visit savehudsonnh.org for more information.

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