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Lawmakers, emergency services seek mile markers on Route 112’s Kancamagus Highway to speed emergency response
Summary
Representative Jerry Stringham and Lincoln-area emergency responders presented HB 713 to install mile markers along Route 112 (Kancamagus Highway) to improve location reporting and emergency response in an area with limited cell service; DOT said the signs comply with the MUTCD and provided cost estimates for one-mile and 0.2-mile intervals.
Representative Jerry Stringham told the committee that House Bill 713 would install mile markers along New Hampshire Route 112 (the Kancamagus Highway) between Lincoln and Conway to help motorists and emergency responders identify locations in an area with limited cell coverage. “House bill 7 13 seeks to better the odds, that our neighbors and visitors will get timely help,” Stringham said, noting the road’s length, scenic attractions and long stretches without cellular service.
Deputy Police Chief Scott McKinley, who said he has responded to incidents along the Kancamagus for more than three decades, told the committee that callers frequently cannot give clear location details. “By the time we get our apparatus up there, police, fire, EMS, it may not even be in our jurisdiction,” McKinley said, stating his department responds to roughly 300 calls per year on that corridor and that delays can force responders to travel additional miles to locate incidents.
Lee Baronis, administrator of the DOT Bureau of Traffic and state traffic engineer, said the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) governs reference-location signs (mile markers). He said enhanced reference location signs (the green-and-white marker with a route shield and direction) are preferred and that national practice usually places markers every 0.2 mile on interstates; the bill specified one-mile intervals. For planning assumptions he estimated costs at about $288,000 for one-mile intervals and about $580,000 for 0.2-mile intervals for the Lincoln-to-Conway stretch, assuming MUTCD-compliant signs installed on one side of the road with back-to-back placement for directionality.
Witnesses also raised design considerations for a scenic, high-snow road: snow banks and roadside sight lines influence sign height and placement, and local groups offered to assist with maintenance or other nonconstruction work. Marion and volunteer organizations were cited as possible partners, and Stringham said local Rotary clubs were willing to help reduce costs where feasible.
Ending — The public hearing on HB 713 closed after DOT and local safety officials described public-safety benefits and practical design and cost considerations. No committee decision was recorded in the transcript.
