Moves shifting to daytime schedule today

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October 17, 2012

Moves shifting to daytime schedule today

By Steven Fletcher Staff Writer Gloucester Daily Times The Gloucester Daily Times Wed Oct 17, 2012, 11:34 AM EDT

The Baldwin Crane Corp. will resume moving parts of a 2.5 megawatt wind turbine for the Varian Semiconductor division of Applied Materials starting today at 8 a.m.

The company started moving sections of the turbines on specially designed trucks Monday night, and continued the move Tuesday night as well. But while moving during the day today is expected to cause some traffic headaches, Baldwin Crane CEO Mark Baldwin said it’s a safer process than doing it at night.

“It increases the safety because we can see the rear of the trailer from the front, it increases visibility,” said Baldwin.

Baldwin said the daytime moves will now continue through Thursday.

Baldwin said the company decided to shift the moves to daylight hours after talking with state and Gloucester police. The route the trucks have been taking will stay the same.

That means the trucks carrying up to 80-foot long sections of the turbine tower and the turbine blades leave from Cruiseport starting at 8 a.m. and running through 4 p.m on both days. From Cruiseport, the trucks run east on Main Street, up the lower part of Eastern Avenue to the Route 128 extension, and then up the Extension.

The trucks will drive up the northbound lane of the Extension, heading toward Blackburn Circle. From there, they’ll head down Dory Road onto Blackburn Drive and then onto Great Republic Drive.

“We’re hoping Wednesday and Thursday will be the only loads left and they’ll be daytime moves,” Baldwin said.

Two state and three Gloucester police officers will handle traffic control around the trucks, said Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello. The officers will travel with the Baldwin trucks and escort traffic around them. Police, he added, aren’t closing down roadways to accommodate the moves.

Campanello said trucks will remain on the route for about a half-hour each. Traffic, he said, will be able to move freely when they aren’t on the road.

“We don’t anticipate any major delays at this time,” Campanello said.

Steven Fletcher may be contacted at 1-978-283-7000 x3455, or sfletcher@gloucestertimes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevengdt.