New Hampshire’s Transportation Commissioner has announced that the DOT will need at least 35 years to complete all the road projects in the department’s Ten Year Plan.
And he said projects like the on-going Keene Bypass or widening of the Spaulding Turnpike should be scaled back or even eliminated.
But proponents of these projects say it’s way too early to give up on them
Acting Transportation Commissioner Charles O’Leary has a reputation for being very direct.
We’ve overpromised. And I don’t think we can go around and do business as usual.
That was his pronouncement to the Executive Council after reviewing the state’s Ten Year Transportation Plan.
Commissioner O’Leary said every part of the DOT had pretty much maxed out its borrowing capacity.
That’s true even for the state’s Turnpike system, which is funded with tolls.
…That means that the Spaulding turnpike, exits 13 through 15, …the ah, the bridges on the Spaulding turnpike and little bay bridge, none of those projects can proceed. The widening of the Everett through Merrimack, that can’t proceed. There is no money.
The Commissioner said he’d like to back off about 25 percent of the 4 billion dollars worth of projects in the Ten Year Plan.
And he said he would direct more of his department’s money into maintenance to better preserve the state roads that are there.
Dick Green used to be a state senator who represented Rochester and other towns around the Seacoast.
Now he commutes to work on the Spaulding Turnpike to his job as director of Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth.
He says the Spaulding and the two lane Great Bay Bridge are usually packed with commuters, trucks and other travelers.
Green says the road needs to be widened.
Spaulding turnpike is a safety issue. It’s a serious safety issue. Either that, or you’re going to have to stop developing along these roads. Then you’re affecting economic development, you’re affecting jobs, so it’s a vicous circle…..
One reason DOT is short of funds is that highway construction costs have risen astronomically in the last few years.
Commissioner O’Leary says if costs keep rising, the state would have to spend about 800 million more than it takes in to complete all the projects.
Cliff Sinnott of the Rockingham Planning Commission says O’Leary’s plan to back off some projects is reasonable.
But he suggests raising the gas tax and tolls to help fund necessary projects.
We have to start getting realistic about the revenue side of the picture as well. And when you have a 45 percent increase in the cost of building things in three or four years and you do nothing to address the revenue side, well then you have to accept the fact that you’re not going to be able to get what you say you need. And that’s what we’ve been doing.
One other thing the state will have to deal with in future years is less federal funding.
Commissioner O’Leary said the state will see cuts of 30 percent beginning in 2009.
Dick Green of Pease International Tradeport says there’s little the state can do about that.
But he says higher tolls could keep Turnpike projects on track.
But if people want this stuff and I think we need it by the way….this is not pie in the sky this is not a wish list this is all about safety and economic development in this state, we’ve got to decide that we have to raise the money to accomplish these things….
The state’s truckers also have a list of favorite highway projects.
Their priorities include the on-going bypass projects in Conway and Keene.
And they want the state to start widening Interstate 93, though that project is now held up in court.
Commissioner O’Leary says he’s ready to start the I-93 project, once the legal issues are ironed out.
It’s a project that Governor Lynch has singled out for completion, so it’s sure to have the necessary funding.
Bob Scully heads New Hampshire’s Motor Transport Association and says he likes the fact that I-93 is on the fast track.
But he says he thinks a toll increase or gas tax hike would also help, because it would help pay for projects in Keene, Conway, and on the Seacoast.
..we’d like to know, where would the governor stand on something like this because its something that a its that important to us and to the whole state and before we get behind this we’d like to know where governor lynch is on this.
The Governor has ruled out supporting a gas tax increase.
But he has not entirely closed the door on raising tolls.
In the meantime, for those drivers who depend on the Spaulding Turnpike, Commissioner O’Leary has some advice.
So for those of you that got all the construction, you should be extremely happy. For those of you on the coast, move inland.
