SALEM ????????? The Planning Board will consider the addition of a new roller coaster at Canobie Lake Park tonight, in what is the amusement park's first major request of the town in three years.
The new roller coaster, which is called the Gerstlauer 320 Compact Euro-Fighter ride, would stand 75 feet tall at the peak with a footprint of about 150-by-200 feet on a grassy section near the park's Yankee Cannonball roller coaster, according Salem Planning Director Ross Moldoff.
Plans show the compact coaster to be about a third of the size of the nearby Yankee Cannonball, he said, with a dark green track held up by columns made to look like birch trees.
During tonight's meeting, Moldoff said he will show the board a video of the proposed coaster.
To find a similar coaster to study, park consultants had to travel to Duinrell park in Wassenaar, Holland, according to a report from Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc., a Burlington, Mass.-based noise and vibrations consultant.
In August, consultants measured the sound produced by the coaster during off hours, recording an average noise of 45 to 46 decibels from 220 feet away, according to the report. At Canobie Lake Park, the nearest property line sits 220 feet to the east of the proposed coaster site.
Town regulations say the coaster is not to exceed 55 decibels between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. at nearby residences.
According to the Harris Miller Miller & Hanson report, the Euro-Fighter coaster is about a quarter as loud as the typical steel or wooden coaster because the steel rails are filled with sand to dampen the sound and vibrations as the wheels move along the track.
The coaster is intended to replace the similarly compact Galaxy Coaster that was removed several years ago, according to plans.
Vanasse and Associates, a transportation engineering firm from Andover, Mass., has also been hired to complete a traffic study,
An initial memo between Vanasse and town staff indicates the new coaster is not expected to increase traffic to the already congested area.
In 2007, Moldoff said Canobie Lake Park staff last came to the town with a site plan change request to expand a "fairground style" parking area. After several meetings, that request was granted, he said.
The Planning Board will review the proposal at its regular meeting tonight at 7 p.m. in the Knightly Meeting Room at Salem Town Hall.
The new roller coaster, which is called the Gerstlauer 320 Compact Euro-Fighter ride, would stand 75 feet tall at the peak with a footprint of about 150-by-200 feet on a grassy section near the park's Yankee Cannonball roller coaster, according Salem Planning Director Ross Moldoff.
Plans show the compact coaster to be about a third of the size of the nearby Yankee Cannonball, he said, with a dark green track held up by columns made to look like birch trees.
During tonight's meeting, Moldoff said he will show the board a video of the proposed coaster.
To find a similar coaster to study, park consultants had to travel to Duinrell park in Wassenaar, Holland, according to a report from Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc., a Burlington, Mass.-based noise and vibrations consultant.
In August, consultants measured the sound produced by the coaster during off hours, recording an average noise of 45 to 46 decibels from 220 feet away, according to the report. At Canobie Lake Park, the nearest property line sits 220 feet to the east of the proposed coaster site.
Town regulations say the coaster is not to exceed 55 decibels between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. at nearby residences.
According to the Harris Miller Miller & Hanson report, the Euro-Fighter coaster is about a quarter as loud as the typical steel or wooden coaster because the steel rails are filled with sand to dampen the sound and vibrations as the wheels move along the track.
The coaster is intended to replace the similarly compact Galaxy Coaster that was removed several years ago, according to plans.
Vanasse and Associates, a transportation engineering firm from Andover, Mass., has also been hired to complete a traffic study,
An initial memo between Vanasse and town staff indicates the new coaster is not expected to increase traffic to the already congested area.
In 2007, Moldoff said Canobie Lake Park staff last came to the town with a site plan change request to expand a "fairground style" parking area. After several meetings, that request was granted, he said.
The Planning Board will review the proposal at its regular meeting tonight at 7 p.m. in the Knightly Meeting Room at Salem Town Hall.
More info here and here.
Not the GCI that I was hoping for, but definitely looking forward to it.