This story was originally produced by the Concord Monitor. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
State planners have hit the brakes on the long-awaited expansion of Interstates 93 and 89 through Concord and Bow – a project that’s been in the works for decades.
While the engineering phase of the $370 million project is fully funded, state transportation officials say flat revenue streams and rising construction costs have forced them to hit pause on financing the construction phase.
Jason Ayotte, project manager at the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, explained that the funding shortfall has made it necessary to make adjustments at several areas in Bow and Concord.
“It doesn’t mean that we’re abandoning the project,” Ayotte said. “Until we can find additional funds or other projects move around — we’re still actively working on it. We still have a number of tasks to push forward.”
The project, funded through Federal Highway and Turnpike Toll revenues in the state’s ten-year transportation plan, focuses on improving safety by reducing dangerous interchanges and extending entrance and exit ramps in the area.
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If the timeline in the state’s 2025-2034 ten-year transportation plan holds, construction is expected to begin in 2029. But given the financial constraints, the project timeline could be pushed back.
At the upcoming Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation hearing, the public will have a chance to discuss changes to Bow’s safety projects included in the 2027–2036 ten-year plan, among others.
It will take place on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the NHTI Auditorium in Concord.
The highway plan calls for adding a lane in each direction along a five-mile stretch of Interstate 93 through Concord, overhauling Exits 12 through 15 and nearby streets and making major upgrades to Exit 1 on Interstate 89 in Bow.
Economic growth stalled
Karri Makinen, Bow’s community development director, said she avoids using the Exit 1 ramps when trying to get from town hall onto I-93 north.
“It’s just not safe, especially during certain times of day,” said Makinen. “I know a lot of other people avoid it as well.”
Multiple crashes have occurred at the on and off ramps to the interstate in the area, including the death of a 20-year-old man who was the victim of a drunk driving incident.
For Bow, this latest setback is particularly frustrating.
“To call this process glacial is an insult to glaciers,” said Kip McDaniel, Bow selectboard chair. “It is a slow process, and that is fine, but to delay it even further when it is a safety issue, a development issue, a traffic issue for hundreds of thousands of people, just seems like a poor decision and a poor prioritization of our state’s transportation system.”
The project also includes work on thirty-three bridges, which will be replaced, rehabilitated or reconstructed. Six are red‑listed bridges slated for replacement or major repairs, including one in Bow and five in Concord.
The construction funds were also removed for safety improvements on Route 3-A at the intersections with River Road and Grandview Road in Bow.
“This is a problem with the state putting Bow last and not prioritizing our community, ” Angela Brennan, Bow selectboard vice chair, said at a recent selectboard meeting.
The project was expected not only to address safety concerns but also to open new economic opportunities for Bow.
McDaniel said that the town has already rezoned the areas around Logging Hill Road and South Street for mixed use to strengthen Bow’s tax base in anticipation of the project.
However, since traffic issues remain a major obstacle, it remains difficult to attract developers or secure planning board approval for the right kinds of projects, he said.
“We’re not remotely the only group or sort of town or constituency that wants this to happen,” McDaniel said. “We as a state want to get tourists to where they are going to go so they can spend their money quicker in New Hampshire. So there’s all these reasons why it has to happen.”
Impact on Concord
Just like in Bow, Concord Mayor Byron Champlin said the highway project delay will affect the city in a variety of ways, including the construction of a section of the Merrimack River Greenway Trail, which extends across the Loudon Road bridge.
Additionally, the realignment of the rail line — moving it closer to I-93 to free up more land for the expansion of Storrs Street is another project Concord negotiated with the State Department of Transportation that could be delayed.
“This whole project has been on the way for a long time, and it is disappointing that it is going to be pushed even farther back,” Champlin said.
