GOFFSTOWN, NH – The Governor’s Advisory Council on Intermodal Transportation (GACIT) held its latest hearing of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation Draft Ten-Year Plan on Wednesday, following concerns from the City of Manchester over projected delays on infrastructural improvements to Exit 6 and Exit 7 on I-293.
Despite the expectation that these improvements would be coming in the near future, in the current draft of the plan, these improvements are now projected to begin in 2032 at Exit 7 (Front Street) and 2034 at Exit 6 (Amoskeag Bridge).
New Hampshire Department of Transportation Director of Project Development Bill Oldenburg indicated that the funding for the improvements is still there, and preliminary planning has been completed, but portions of the funding have been shifted to beyond the ten-year window of the plan.
Oldenburg indicated many fiscal challenges created the need for this shift, as well as delays in other major projects such as one in the Concord/Bow area as well as completion of the F.E. Everett Turnpike widening project from Bedford to Nashua.
While federal funding for New Hampshire transportation investment is projected to remain stable, he indicated that there are limitations how that money can be used and inflation will play a role on how far that money will go. He also indicated that upcoming toll revenue is lower than expected and there are also new limitations in SB 367 funding. That specific funding comes from legislation that created a new gas tax to allow the state to obtain a federal TIFIA loan that accelerated the widening of I-93 from Salem to Manchester. Under agreements within that funding mechanism, upcoming funding now must go toward debt repayment of existing projects rather than funding of yet-to-be-started projects.
“We don’t just get a giant lottery check for $234 million and spend it how we want, we get it in different buckets and pieces and we have that restricts from what it can be used for,” said Oldenburg.
Oldenburg’s information was buttressed by Southern New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission Deputy Director Nathan Miller, who provided an overview of regional priorities and requests that were in the draft proposal, which did include $7.445 million in funding for Exit 8 (Wellington Road) in Manchester as well as other improvements in Bedford and Deerfield.
Miller also requested that the Exit 7 and 6 project timelines be moved up and requested the return of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funding for Mammoth Road signal improvements in Manchester as well as other projects dropped from Manchester area towns.
In addition to members of the public voicing concerns about projects in Bedford and New Hampshire’s lack of non-automobile-related transportation funding, with some advocates for increasing New Hampshire’s infrastructure improvements towards trains and bicycles also talking about their safety concerns for Exit 6 and 7.
The matter of safety was also a matter of concern from motorists from Manchester such as Manchester Public Works Director Tim Clougherty, who echoed his concerns from last week’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting and from Manchester resident Caleb Dobbins, who felt the partial improvements southbound on Exit 6 from Eddy Road would do little to address his fears.
“I get the chance to drive this road every day and it’s like playing a game of ‘Amoskeag Roulette’,” he said. “We have all these kinda-sorta solutions that are not solving the problem.”
Delays in the improvements to the exits were also points of concern from Manchester Economic Development Office Director Jodie Nazaka, who said the exits’ restructuring would be critical to the continued rejuvenation of the city’s burgeoning Millyard businesses. Manchester Community College President Brian Bicknell expressed similar concerns, stating that delays with improvements to Exit 7 could impact the college’s ten-year plan given its proximity to Exit 7.
Others spoke regarding the combined safety and economic impacts of the delay.
Ward 12 Alderman Erin George-Kelly, who represents the area where the two exits are located, stated that numerous constituents had voiced concerns regarding the changes. Shannon MacLeod, Chief of Staff to Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, spoke on behalf of the mayor at the meeting as well, citing safety concerns and potential delays to redevelopment of the Hackett Hill area as a potential biotech industry and housing “innovation village” if the exit redesign did not proceed at its original schedule.
“Anyone who has taken these exits knows how dangerous and unsafe they are. As our community continues to grow, they will only get worse,” she said from a letter written by the mayor to members of the GACIT.
The City of Manchester had also chartered a Manchester Transit Authority bus from City Hall to bring Manchester residents to the meeting.
Additional information on the ten-year plan can be found here.
