Bridges named for fallen State Police Sgt., state highway designer
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Aug. 4—CONCORD — New Hampshire has Daniel Webster Highway, the Frederick E. Everett Turnpike and the Ruth L. Griffin Bridge, but naming public landmarks for people doesn't happen every day.
Gov. Chris Sununu signed legislation Wednesday naming two bridges in honor of two individuals, a state police staff sergeant tragically killed while on the job and a state highway staffer who designed 400 of the state's bridges.
"This is a cool day for me because we get to honor two individuals with one bill," Sununu said.
Jeese E. Sherrill, 44, was working at the site of an overnight paving project when the driver of a tractor-trailer slammed into his cruiser off Interstate 95 in Portsmouth last Oct. 28.
The driver, Jay Paul Medeiros, 43, of Ashford, Conn., faces charges of negligent homicide and reckless conduct with a deadly weapon.
This bill (HB 1038) names in Sherrill's honor the Shelburne Road Bridge over I-95, also known as bridge No. 17 in the city of Portsmouth.
Lt. Keith Walker is commander of Troop A, where Sherrill worked.
"We talked every day. He was such a big presence in all our lives and this was such a great, fitting tribute to Jesse," said State Police Lt. Keith Walker, commander of Troop A where Sherrill worked.
Walker was joined by a half dozen state police officers for the signing ceremony.
Sununu said he grew to know Sherrill as a state police officer detailed to his Newfields home to keep watch over the family when anti-vaccine mandate activists held weekly protests there during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They first met in November 2020.
"He was one of a kind, there is no doubt about it," Sununu said. "What he stood for, what he was about as an individual, as a dad isn't forgotten."
Sherrill supporters got this bridge naming attached to the original bill that names the new Ash Road Bridge over Interstate 93 in Londonderry for Robert J. Prowse, the man who originally designed it.
The bridge is just north of Exit 4 on I-93.
"He is known throughout New Hampshire for the past 60 years and hasn't gotten the recognition he deserves for having helped to design the economic superhighway as well for New Hampshire," Sununu said.
Joyce Prowse of Bow, his daughter-in-law, got state Rep. Gary Woods, D-Bow, to sponsor the original bill and Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, got aboard and shepherded it through the Senate.
"He designed 400 bridges, which was a pretty amazing accomplishment," Prowse said of her father-in-law.
Sue Callahan of Contoocook, Prowse's granddaughter, said state plans are to locate the original bridge Prowse had designed for Londonderry to be placed over another state highway.
"We would always marvel when we went on the highway, 'Hey, we just went over granddad's bridge,'" Callahan recalled.
Carson said the bridge as originally designed was a "great introduction to Londonderry."
