Governor Lynch Signs 10-Year Transportation Plan
- Returns Honesty, Fiscal Responsibility To Plan

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

June 25, 2008

Contact: Communications Director
Office of the Governor
603-271-2121


CONCORD - Gov. John Lynch today signed the State’s Ten-Year Highway Transportation Plan into law, returning New Hampshire to an honest, fiscally responsible 10-year plan that will allow the state to move forward with key projects.

“This is an honest, financially responsible 10-year Highway Plan that will makes important investments in reducing congestion and improving public safety. With this plan, we will be able to move forward with important projects across the state, including expanding Interstate 93 and the Spaulding Turnpike and repairing 80 critical red-listed bridges,” Gov. Lynch said.

“For too long we made false promises to communities, adding projects to the highway plan without any way to pay for them, or without any realistic expectation that those projects would ever be completed. Over time, New Hampshire’s highway plan grew from a 10-year plan to a 35-year plan,” Gov. Lynch said. “We are returning to a realistic plan that will make important investments in our infrastructure.”

The plan was developed by the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation (GACIT). To return New Hampshire to a realistic plan, GACIT worked with Department of Transportation, using input from the regional planning commissions, to cut almost $2 billion in proposed projects.

“In putting this plan together, we had to make some tough choices. We had to cut projects many communities had hoped would be completed. But we could not continue to give false hope to communities. Although the cuts were difficult, communities will now know that projects included in the 10-Year Plan are likely to be constructed,” Gov. Lynch said.

GACIT, which is comprised of the Executive Council and commissioner of transportation, along with the Department of Transportation held 33 public hearings throughout the State on the plan.

This 10-year plan prioritizes repairing red-listed bridges - bridges identified as in need of critical repair by the federal government - and preserving the state’s existing infrastructure. It will allow the State to move forward with road repairs and improvements that are critical to public safety, including the replacement or repair of 89 red-list bridges, work on the portions of Interstate-93 with the greatest safety and congestion problems, repair of the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, widening a section of the Spaulding Turnpike and the first portion of the Conway Bypass. Approximately 55 percent of the plan is focused on preservation, a significant increase from previous plans that will allow the State to maintain the quality of existing roadways.

In addition to the projects recommended by GACIT, Gov. Lynch added to the plan the first two pieces of construction for the widening of the Spaulding Turnpike over the Little Bay Bridge and over Gosling Road in Newington. This project is recommended by state Department of Transportation as the next highest priority for the turnpike system and can be funded by revenue from the toll increases approved by the Executive Council on October 3, 2007.

Gov. Lynch also said he has asked the Department of Transportation to begin developing a list of projects, such as Exit 4A in Derry, Route 101 in Bedford, the Dover side of the Little Bay Bridge project and the remainder of the I-93 expansion that should be considered as priorities the state develops future Transportation Improvement Plans. That process begins again in two years.

“I want to thank the Executive Council, lawmakers in the House and Senate, the leadership and staff at DOT and the regional planning commissions for working with me to return honesty and fiscal responsibility to the plan,” Gov. Lynch said.