SB367 & TIFIA Pledged Road and Bridge Work – Benefits of Transportation

In 2014, the NH Legislature passed a 4.2 cent increase in the state gas tax to help pay for the I-93 Salem to Manchester expansion project and for critical road and bridge work. Subsequently, to finish the I-93 project, NHDOT submitted a $200M loan application that utilized TIFIA credit assistance, and also pledged to accelerate a number of bridge projects and paving work in the rural parts of the state. With the ability to secure a rural low-interest rate of 1.78% and defer principal payments during construction and post-construction of the I-93 project, NHDOT was able to undertake much-needed bridge and roadwork. To date, over 1200 miles of state roads have been resurfaced at a cost of $89M with an additional 900 miles planned ($80M) through 2025 as part of the TIFIA pledged paving work. This resurfacing effort represents nearly 40% of the 4600 miles of state-maintained roads. In addition, 23 structurally deficient bridges will be replaced or rehabilitated at an estimated cost of $80M through 2025 as part of the TIFIA pledged bridge work.

By accelerating a greater number of projects in the rural parts of the state, NHDOT is and will be able to obtain competitive pricing create a significant number of construction jobs, and provide numerous benefits to the traveling public statewide. TIFIA credit assistance was therefore essential in freeing up resources—which would otherwise be committed to debt service payments–to execute smaller scale, important statewide coverage of paving and bridge work.

More information on the Program may be found at https://www.nh.gov/dot/road-toll/index.htm.

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