Drivers and other transportation users in the Manchester area will have the opportunity to shape policy on state roads and highways through a public hearing at 10 Meetinghouse Road in Bedford at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
Discussion will focus on the draft Transportation Improvement Plan for 2027-2036. The document, often simply referred to as the Ten-Year Plan (TYP), lays out $4.5 billion in spending over that period, and details hundreds of projects.
Executive councilors recently started taking public input on the draft TYP at hearings. They’re seeking comments from the people using their highways and roads, and those who will be affected by the road closures and improvements.
Public responses could influence the final draft of the plan that appears on Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s desk this winter. The hearings are the point on the timeline between the state Department of Transportation (DoT) preparing the plan and final adoption by the Legislature in June 2026.
John Stephens is the executive councilor representing Manchester, Bedford, Londonderry, Hooksett, and Goffstown, among other cities and towns in the state’s 4th District. Stephens is facilitating the hearing in Bedford.
Although the hearing is taking place in Bedford, Stephens said members of surrounding communities are also encouraged to attend.
“You’ll hear that night from the DoT that we are in a very difficult financial situation at the state level with our highway fund,” Stephens told Bedford officials last week. “We’ve got to be fiscally sound and responsible right now as a state — more so than ever.”
The 2027-2036 TYP invests less into all modes of transportation than the plan approved last cycle, the 2025-2034 TYP, with about $500 million less spending anticipated.
This is partly because the single largest funding source — the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which represents about 60% of the total funds available for all projects — is expected to generally reduce its annual grants over the 10-year period.
The trend goes downwards from 2027, with an anticipated $319.3 million in FHWA funds including Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grants, to 2036, with $237.8 million in FHWA funds.
Moreover, Stephens said the state is seeing significantly less revenue from its gas tax, which, he said, was one of the major immediate causes of a $400 million deficit in its highway fund.
Stephens said the gas tax was raised by about 4 cents over a decade ago for the express purpose of paying off a bond for work on Interstate 93. Having reached the terms of the sunset clause, Stephens said the gas tax will be “lessened over the next few years.”
Good news for the taxpayers, but not for the state, which has already seen decreased gas tax revenues from other trends like fewer people driving after the pandemic and the rise of electric vehicles.
But when Stephens met with the Bedford Town Council at their Sept. 24 regular meeting to ask for input directly from elected officials, he made it clear he thinks other longer-term issues contributed to the huge deficit in the highway fund.
Stephens didn’t mince words when Town Councilor Michael Strand asked him for a simple explanation on how the state accumulated a $400 million deficit in its highway fund: “I don’t think we’ve planned fiscally in a responsible manner for years.”
“New Hampshire doesn’t need a Mercedes; we need to have a Chevrolet that drives efficiently that meets the demands and the needs of the people. When we start wanting to look like a Mercedes on every single thing we operate and do — buildings and public works and everything else — that’s when we’re going to get into the situation we are (in) today,” Stephens said.
Stephens avoided naming specific projects that he deems unnecessary, but another town councilor, Phil Greazzo, said it brought to his mind the Exit 4A project in Derry, which has been in the works for about 40 years.
The executive councilor did mention the Hooksett Road project, however, as an example of what not to do. He said this project has been delayed multiple times due to conflicting interests, and he is unsure that the latest designs will be approved.
“We’ve got the business owners on one side, we’ve got the town council, we have others — nobody can seem to agree to anything on what the right model is for the future for this particular strip in the roadway, and we’ve spent millions already designing and engineering,” Stephens said.
On a more positive note, Stephens assured his constituents that he’ll support the proposed South River Road project in Bedford. DoT representatives presented the project to the Bedford Town Council in August, sharing plans to add several roundabouts across a two-mile stretch of road that is the site of somewhat frequent accidents.
The South River Road project appears in the draft TYP with a total cost of about $31.5 million, to be engineered in 2027-2029 and built in 2030-2033. A full list of projects in the draft 2027-2036 TYP, as well as dates and times for public hearings on the TYP in October, can be found on the DoT website.