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Some Facts About New Hampshire’s Infrastructure:New Hampshire has approximately 17,000 miles of state and town roads, turnpikes and interstate highways. There are 3,795 bridges in the state. As of 2010, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation plowed more than 800 lane miles of roads and put down 180,000 tons of salt for snow and ice control annually.The state was given a “C” grade by the American Society of Civil Engineers for the condition of its roads and bridges. New Hampshire was rated among the worst in the country for the poor condition of its bridges by Transportation For America. On average, bridges are older in New Hampshire than those in the rest of the country. There are hundreds of bridges on the so-called “red list,” which means that the bridges have major structural problems and need to be repaired or replaced.The state also has a poor record when it comes to public transportation. New Hampshire has no comprehensive rail system and is rated 42nd in terms of investment in public transportation according to the State Department of Transportation.The majority of New Hampshire’s infrastructure funding comes from vehicle registration fees and gas taxes. The state takes out fewer bond loans than other states and considers its funding a “pay as you go” system. The gas tax, the lowest in New England, has not been raised since 1991. The 2011 Legislature did away with a motor vehicle fee increase. That change has meant more $30 million a year in cuts to DOT.The $800 million expansion of I-93 from Salem to Manchester began in 2006, but has been delayed several times because of a lack of funding. Supporters of the expansion say it will update one of the country’s most congested highways and bring needed tourism revenue to the more isolated and less economically robust northern part of the state. Traffic on I-93 has increased 600 percent since the highway was built in the 1960s and approximately 80,000 cars now drive on it each day.Summary provided by StateImpact NH

Construction Work Underway At Manchester-Boston Regional Airport

Manchester-Boston Regional Airport Tower
J. Stephen Conn
/
Flickr Creative Commons

Manchester Boston Regional Airport is upgrading its terminal. 

The airport plans to consolidate its multiple screening and entry points into a single, six-lane checkpoint.

Deputy director Tom Malafronte says that will make it easier for everyone to move throughout the airport:

“Right now we have so many flights that are scheduled within the first two hours of the morning that we get a lot of the queueing line from security that pushes back all the way to the top of the stairs," Malafronte says.

Crews will also upgrade lights, flooring and aesthetics.

Malafronte says he doesn't expect the construction to lead to extra delays for passengers, and says there will be additional staff and signage in place to assist travelers.

But he adds passengers should leave extra time to get to their gates.

“Just to be on the safe side, if you’ve got bags to check and you’ve got to go to the ticket counter and you want to get through security screening, and you don’t want to take a chance of cutting it too close, we’re recommending passengers be in the terminal building two hours prior to their scheduled departure time," he says.

The airport plans to complete the work before Thanksgiving, one of the busiest travel times of the year.

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