State’s next 10-year transportation plan is ‘fairly conservative’

“This is an appropriate starting point, a fairly conservative approach, recognizing there’s a long way to go,” said state Transportation Commissioner Victoria Sheehan after the department presented its draft of the 2023-2032 Ten Year Transportation Improvement Plan (TYP) in July to the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation, or GACIT.

Gov. Chris Sununu’s father, former Gov. John H. Sununu, introduced the planning process in the early 1980s, and the Legislature codified it in statute in 1994. Every two years, GACIT — whose members include the five executive councilors — has reviewed and updated the 10-year plan in order to adjust the scope and timing of projects and programs to make optimal use of federal and state dollars. After meeting with the nine regional planning commissions and holding public hearings around the state, GACIT passes its recommendations to the governor, who in turn presents it to the Legislature in December.

In presenting the draft for 2023-2032, Sheehan opened by noting that revenue from gas taxes and road tolls, foregone when traffic volumes slipped between 5% and 7% during the pandemic, will be offset by federal funding. The state Highway Fund, consisting of gas tax revenue, has been balanced with $41 million of federal stimulus funds, and the American Rescue Plan Act is expected to cover the shortfall in road toll revenue to the state’s turnpike system.

Altogether, the three federal aid packages — the Coronavirus Response and Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and American Rescue Plan Act — have provided $133 million for roads and bridges, public transit and airports. And additional funds are pending.

Roads and bridges

However, Sheehan said, the amount of future federal funding is “uncertain” as the Biden administration’s infrastructure proposals make their way through Congress. She said the 10-year plan assumes some $181 million in federal funding annually, or some 72% of program expenses, but added Congress is weighing increases of between 22% and 50%. And she said there is also talk of restoring so-called “earmarks,” legislation with appropriations to fund specific projects in particular states.

Thus, the Department of Transportation recommends “constraint,” assuming an average of $230 million from 2023 to 2026 and $237 million level-funded from 2027 to 2032. In light of the cloud over federal funding, the Senate transferred $50 million from the state general fund to the Highway Fund in the 2022-23 budget.

Peter Stamnas, director of project development, told the commission that the overriding strategy of the 10-year plan is to sustain the aggressive program of maintaining and preserving roads and bridges, work that was begun in 2016 and 2018.

In 2016, Senate Bill 367 increased the gas tax by 4.2 cents a gallon, from 18 to 22 cents, raising $34 million a year, and authorized a $200 million borrowing to complete the widening of Interstate 93. The financing package provided $102.5 million for highway and bridge work between 2016 and 2033.

Two years later, this initiative was restructured and enhanced after the state secured a federal loan through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act, or TI- FIA. The loan enabled the state to complete the widening of I-93 while increasing investment in other roads and bridges fourfold between 2016 and 2025.

At the time, the state borrowed $200 million at 1.09% with principal payments deferred for nine years from 2016 to 2025. During the deferral period, between $19.2 million and $23.6 million in revenue from the increased gas tax are being allocated to highway and bridge repair as well as $4 million in municipal highway block grants and $6.8 million municipal bridge aid.

Altogether, the TIFIA financing provides $257 million for roads and bridges — more than twice the amount originally projected by SB 367 — throughout every corner of the state.

As a result, Stamnas said, 80% of state roads are in good or fair condition and are projected to remain so for the next four years, leaving 20% (805 miles) in poor or very poor condition.

All told, 96% (845 miles) of interstate and divided highway miles are in good or fair condition, along with 92% (1,431 miles) of major corridors, and 80% (1,439 miles) of regional corridors — all at or above the DOT’s targets. And 62% (891 miles) of secondary highways meet the same standard, just 2% below target.

Likewise, Stamnas said the funding package has shrunk the number of bridges on the Red List while slowing the pace of those being added to the list. The number of bridges currently on the list — 118 — is projected to fall to 103 by 2027 before rising to 128 in 2032, 14 fewer than the 142 projected in the 2019 10- year plan. The plan proposes an average annual investment of $77 million, including $17 million in preservation work, to accelerate bridge work. Of the 168 bridges expected to be added to the list by 2030, 158 are expected to be removed by 2032, 81 of them because of 10-year plan projects.

However, the NHDOT notes that after the TIFIA funding for paving and bridges expires in 2025, paving on rural roads, particularly the 1,552 miles ineligible for federal funding, will be reduced “significantly” as state dollars will be limited. Likewise, without the TIFIA money, annual state aid to municipalities for bridge work is projected to slide from $6.8 million to $3.2 million by 2032.

Major projects

Among the major projects in the 10-year plan, construction of Exit 4A at Derry-Londonderry will cap the widening of I-93 from Salem to Manchester. The project includes a diamond interchange with access to Derry by way of a five-lane, one-mile connector road and reconstruction of Folsom and Tsienneto roads to run 2.3 miles to Route 102. Work will proceed in three phases with completion expected in 2026 at an estimated cost of $112 million.

Another handful of projects are slated for the 89 miles of the turnpike system, which operates as an enterprise fund financed by toll revenue that in 2021 amounted to $113 million.

Projects include the rehabilitation of the General Sullivan Bridge at $30 million, widening of the Everett Turnpike between Nashua and Bedford at $156 million, reconstruction of Exits 6 and 7 on the Everett Turnpike in Manchester at $148 million and widening of I-93 between the junctions with I-89 and I-393 at $375 million.

The plan calls for completing the bridge project and Everett Turnpike widening by 2024 and 2025, respectively, but delays work on the Manchester exits for three years, to 2027. Likewise, the start of widening the turnpike section of I-93 between Bow and Concord will be delayed two years to 2028 with the entire project not to be completed until 2033.

While highways, roads and bridges represent the major components of the 10-year plan, it also addresses airports, railroads and public transit as well as the interests of pedestrians and cyclists.

There are two dozen airports in the state — three commercial airports (Manchester, Portsmouth and Lebanon) and nine publicly owned airports, all eligible for federal funding — as well as 12 private airports. Funding for maintenance, improvement and expansion averages $28.9 million annually, with the Federal Aviation Administration providing 90% of it and state and local government splitting the balance. The 10-year plan includes 14 airport projects.

The Federal Transit Administration provides most of the $31.2 million in annual funding the state receives for public transit, which includes seven intercity bus routes and 11 local transit providers, along with 25 park-and-ride lots and driver services in 197 communities. However, the frequency and extent of services, especially in rural areas, is limited.

There are 194 miles of active rail lines, 153 miles of which are used at least monthly by six operators, four freight services and two tourist services. Funding for maintenance and construction amounts to $1.1 million and is supplemented by $600,000 from lease payments by railroad operators.

Finally, the Transportation Alternative Program, with $13.4 million in funding, awards grants requiring a 20% match for construction of sidewalks and off-road trails, including those in the 339 miles of abandoned rail corridors.

GACIT is scheduled to meet Sept. 1 for presentation of the 10-year plan draft.

A federal loan (TIFIA) enabled the state to complete the widening of I-93 and double investment in roads and bridges. But after 2025, paving on rural roads and municipal bridge work will be reduced significantly due to limited state funding.