The I-495/90 Interchange Improvement Project is expected to last six years, potentially exposing more than 100 property owners in the Roosevelt Farms, Huckleberry Road and Hopkinton Meadows neighborhoods and along Fruit Street to myriad temporary and long-term hazards. The size, scope and duration of the project, which includes at least four regulatory entities and six engineering consulting firms, leaves ample room for miscommunication and “buck passing” as mistakes, however infrequent, inevitably occur. Over the last 18 months, the state’s project coordinators have given insufficient consideration to the concerns and suggestions expressed by individual property owners and homeowners associations via public forums and official correspondence.

For these reasons, we are launching the Hopkinton North Woods Coalition (HNWC), whose mission it will be to advocate for the collective interests of all property owners around the I-495/90 interchange.

We have three primary goals:
1. Safeguard the integrity of our wells.
2. Reduce construction and highway noise impacts.
3. Maintain Fruit Street bridge access throughout the construction phase and improve Fruit Street safety longer term.

We do not seek to stop construction on the I-495/90 interchange, as we recognize its commercial and strategic importance to the state and region. Rather, we seek to work with our elected representatives, state regulators and town government to ensure that our interests are weighed appropriately. In particular, we invite our elected representatives to take an active role in mediating discussions between the Hopkinton North Woods Coalition and I-495/90 project coordinators on the three aforementioned concerns. This will help to ensure that our neighborhoods remain great places to raise families for decades to come!

For more information about the Hopkinton North Woods Coalition and updates on our progress, please visit hopnorthwoods.org.

— Nancy Corbin, Jim and Kathy Hervol, Mary Krattenmaker, Ron Priefer, Wilson St. Pierre, Ellen Wilson, all Hopkinton residents

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