House Public Works and Highways panel drops two costly turnpike add‑ons, adopts 11 smaller amendments to 10‑year plan

The House Public Works and Highways committee convened a work session Jan. 27 to consider HB 2026, the state’s 10‑year transportation improvement plan. After question‑and‑answer exchanges with Department of Transportation officials, members held a straw poll and agreed to remove the two largest turnpike add‑ons from the plan and to include 11 smaller amendments totaling about $22.5 million.

The decision followed DOT testimony that the two Manchester turnpike projects (phased as projects 1699A and 6099B) together exceed $200 million and lack an identified revenue source under the current toll structure. Committee members and DOT officials said the projects address safety and capacity needs but would require a revenue enhancement — most likely a toll increase — to be feasible.

DOT representatives told the committee that a Senate bill under consideration would be expected to raise roughly $50–$55 million a year in toll revenue (about $550 million over 10 years). Committee members asked DOT to produce a prioritized list of projects that could be added back into the STIP if that revenue materializes, and DOT agreed to deliver recommended priorities at the next work session.

Members also discussed the plan’s composition and funding sources. DOT staff clarified that not every project listed in the published 10‑year plan is paid out of the highway fund; some items (the transcript cited a previously authorized $4.1 million golf‑course related project) are governed by separate legislative conditions or bond warrants.

The committee noted a roughly $400 million baseline shortfall before cuts, said staff reduced about $300–$400 million during plan updates, and emphasized the legal requirement that the STIP be fiscally constrained. DOT further explained that if turnpike projects were funded by new toll revenue, roughly $75 million of federal funds currently programmed to address bridge needs on the I‑93 corridor through Bow and Concord could be reprioritized for other projects across the state.

By the end of the session the panel signaled its intent to send the draft STIP forward with the first 11 add‑ons included and the final two expensive turnpike projects excluded, pending any change in Senate action. The committee set internal deadlines tied to legislative reporting schedules (a target of March 17 and an administrative deadline noted as March 19) and scheduled a follow‑up work session for the coming week to review DOT’s prioritized list and any updated revenue projections.

“The DOT projection is that the Senate toll bill would generate about $50–$55 million annually,” committee members were told; the committee requested a prioritized list of projects that would be added if that revenue becomes available. The panel did not take a formal roll‑call vote during the work session; members used an informal show‑of‑hands straw poll to record the consensus. The next work session is scheduled for next Tuesday.