By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD — The Senate Transportation Committee heard two complaints about the “fiscally restrained” $4.6 billion highway improvement plan at a public hearing Tuesday.
Merrimack elected officials objected to a provision that would have the town take ownership of a section of Continental Boulevard and North Country officials want Golf Links Road in Dixville Notch and Colebrook added back into the 10-year plan.
The state road links the old Balsams resort with the country club about two miles away and would be a part of the proposed resort being developed by Les Otten, who officials said is close to finalizing a financial package for the project.
Rep. John Graham, R-Bedford, the chair of the House Public Works and Highway Committee which worked on House Bill 2022, the highway improvement plan, said turning Continental Boulevard over to Merrimack is the House’s position and it will remain that way.
He noted all three exit tolls along the F.E. Everett Turnpike in Merrimack have been removed, the last was included in the budget package last year.
The town has benefited greatly from the boulevard which has seen numerous developments along the road, he said.
The town has said maintenance of the road would cost between $200,000 ad $300,000, he said, although the department projects the cost as much less.
The Transportation Department projects maintenance costs to be $80,000 a year.
If the boulevard remains part of the turnpike system, Graham said, everyone who pays a toll will help pay for a road that serves the Town of Merrimack and the industry and development along it, but there are no tolls in the town any more.
But Merrimack representatives said the town was never consulted or informed of the plan to turn the road over to the town, and said it was done at the last minute.
Tom Koenig, head of the town council, said the road is being used for the same purpose as when it was constructed in 1992.
“This is an unfunded mandate downshifting the cost of maintenance of a state highway,” he said. “It is an important part of the state highway system.”
Koenig and others said the proposal would be a violation of the state constitution which forbids the state from ordering or instituting new programs for municipalities without paying for them.
He said he is not opposed to the 10-year plan, just the section transferring the boulevard to the town.
Town manager Paul Micali said the department has brought up the transfer in the past, but the town has always said no and it would live up to the agreement to pay off the 30-year bonds for the turnpike work requested by the town.
“We don’t want to change the game now,” he said, noting that $80,000 is a small amount of money for the state.
Rep. Michael Abbott, D-Hinsdale, and a member of the House Public Works and Highways Committee said removing the tolls at the three exits reduced turnpike revenue by $1.7 million a year, while dismantling the facilities and reconfiguring the ramps will cost about $6 million.
The town of Merrimack has collected an enormous amount in property taxes since the road was constructed, he noted.
The committee did not decide Tuesday what it will recommend on the road provision or adding Golf Course Road back into the highway plan.
Department of Transportation Commission Victoria Sheehan said Golf Course Road was included in the 10-year plan and went out to bid in 2017, but a provision required the Balsams project to be funded before work on the road could begin.
And without the funding her department had no authorization to proceed, so it was dropped from the plan, she said.
The project was discussed by the committee with several members wanting to see something go forward even if only one dollar is the appropriation and suggested maybe it could be funded with the revenue surplus from this fiscal year.
But Sheehan suggested lawmakers put the project in new legislation next year and funding could come from other sources, but said it should not go back into the 10-year plan at this point because the financing for the project has yet to be approved.
Coos County Commissioner and Colebrook selectman Raymond Gorman urged the Senate committee to put the road into the plan saying the road is really important to his town and the county to help the Balsams development move forward.
He said the county is heavily involved in the project with $30 million in bonds. “We’re very optimistic this is going to happen,” Gorman said. “It is extremely important to us, we are one of the poorest towns in the state, it is important to the county and the whole state.”
Rep. Edith Tucker, D-Randolph, who sponsored a bill several years ago to allow the county to issue bonds for the project, said “we are very close to making this happen.”
She said the project will make an enormous difference to the county, noting the county has never recovered from the Balsams’ closing.
When it is developed, Tucker said, there would once again be three grand hotels operating in Coos and that will also benefit the state.
“I can almost hear the first hammer and the first shovel now,” Tucker said. “It is not the time to give up on this project. I believe in this project.”
State transportation officials believe the boost in federal funding from the federal infrastructure bill passed last year will help the department increase paving and bridge rehabilitation projects around the state.
New Hampshire is projected to receive $545 million in new federal funds from the federal bill for highway and bridge work and other transportation infrastructure like airports and bus service.
The bridge projects will receive $169 million over the next five years with $122 million dedicated to red list bridges.
The state will use $168 million of the federal money to increase paving throughout the state
And more of the federal money will allow the state to catch up on some major construction projects that have fallen behind schedule due to the constrained revenue stream. The reduced revenue is due to both the pandemic and the shift to alternative fuel vehicles reducing gas tax money.
Earlier the committee was told 83 percent of the new 10-year plan is for highways and bridges and 17 percent for other modes of transportation like airports, buses and rail.
Federal funds account for 83 percent of the highway and bridge money.
Transit projects receive $378 million under the new 10-year plan, including some money for the NH Capitol Corridor train project for the developmental stage.
The plan also sets aside $17 million for electric vehicle charging stations, and $17 million for such things as bike lanes and sidewalks.
Due to the pandemic, the turnpike portion of the new plan is constrained with a decrease in toll revenues.
Sheehan said while the number of vehicles passing through the tolls on weekends has returned to prior levels, weekday traffic has not as many people continue to work remotely.
Less toll revenue has delayed completing a number of major projects such as the General Sullivan Bridge Rehabilitation, work on several exits on I-293 through Manchester, and the turnpike expansions from Bedford to Nashua and from Bow through Concord.
Senators are the last group to decide how best to spend state and federal highway funds on the state’s transportation infrastructure as the Executive Council, Governor and House have already made their recommendations.
The House added a study of the circumferential highway to the plan as well as transferring the state-owned section of Continental Boulevard to the town of Merrimack, and specific bridges to benefit from the additional federal money.
The committee did not make an immediate recommendation on House Bill 2022.
Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.