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December 9, 2009
Pepperell to Lowell: One hour plus
Snow was already falling in Pepperell at 4:30 a.m. when I took Brady, our 11-week-old Yorkie puppy, out to do his business. By the time I left the house at 8 a.m. in my Subaru Forester, at least 3 inches of snow were already on the ground and the roads were a mess. I turned back, not because the roads were impassable, because I realized my oldest daughter was going to have a rough commute to Fitchburg State College, which had announced a two-hour delay. Better to have her using all wheel drive than me, I thought. I was already back on the road and in Dunstable in her Volvo convertible (no top down today!) when she called me with news that FSC had canceled. Not to worry, even though the roads were rough, her car managed just fine even though her snow tires are still sitting in the garage. If I had to grade the roads on my way in, here's what they'd be:
Pepperell: C (although the heavy equipment was out in full force downtown, so it would be only a matter of time before the town's snow-removal effort would be its usual A.
Dunstable: B+.
Tyngsboro: B.
Route 3 south to the Connector: D (not much evidence of plowing on this road at 8:30, although the good news is that I didn't get stuck in the conga line). Route 3 north was being plowed, though.
Lowell Connector: B-.
Lowell: C-. Thorndike to Dutton was a real mess. This is a major artery into the downtown, and I expected it to be in better shape at 9 a.m.
Finally made it in to The Sun's offices just after 9 a.m. I can usually do this drive in just under a half hour.
-- Charles St. Amand, managing editor
Posted by The Sun Newsroom at December 9, 2009 10:07 AM
