Hampton Harbor bridge project slated to start in 2024: Here's the final $80M plan

HAMPTON — The cost of building a new bridge across Hampton Harbor’s inlet has risen drastically, but the project is still scheduled to go out to bid this fall.

According to state Department of Transportation Bridge Consultant and Design Chief Jennifer Reczek, the estimated project costs to replace Route 1A’s Neil R. Underwood Bridge across the harbor have risen significantly since July 2021, when it came in at about $58 million.

Reczek said today’s escalating costs moved construction estimates for the wider, higher, fixed bridge to $78 million. That doesn’t include the roughly $2 million the state’s already spent on planning, designing and permitting.

“This is still a federally-funded project,” she said.

Reczek said the money to build it will come from a portion of the regular annual apportionment New Hampshire receives from the federal government through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s highway funding to states.

Reczek said all the environmental permit applications that go along with projects of this nature are filed. She referred to waiting for the approval of those applications as “the nail-biting phase,” but she believes that everything is on track for final approval in time to advertise for contractor bids this September.

The goal, she said, is for the project to begin prep work in 2024, with the department working within the regulations related to building in and around waterways and environmentally sensitive areas. Reczek said the schedule calls for two years to build the new bridge and one year to take down the current bridge. If all goes as planned, the project should be completed by 2027, she said.

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Why a new Hampton Harbor bridge is needed

The 1,200-foot-long Neil R. Underwood Bridge is steel and concrete, spanning the Hampton River near Hampton Beach and is seen as a vital link in connecting the villages of Hampton Beach, Seabrook and beyond that to Salisbury, Massachusetts.

But its present design as a bascule bridge – one that must open to allow boats to pass below it – is seen as a detriment, adding to the roadway’s traffic problems in the tourist season and delaying police, fire and ambulances during emergencies. Bascule bridges also require more costly maintenance, due to their complex opening and closing mechanisms.

Another detriment is its age. It was originally built across Hampton Harbor’s inlet in 1949, with rehabs completed in 1963, 1978, 1983, 1990, and 2002. A deck was replaced in 2010 and an emergency repair was needed in 2018.

For years now, it’s been New Hampshire’s number one priority red listed bridge, Reczec said. It’s seen as functionally obsolete – or insufficient for the 18,000 vehicles that travel over and the scores of boats that sail beneath it each day during peak season. It is also considered in poor condition.

“That doesn’t mean it’s unsafe,” Reczek said. “It is safe. What it means is that it needs attention.”

What the new bridge will look like

The design for the replacement is for a much taller span which won’t require the bridge to open for boating. The fixed bridge will be high enough for boats to pass beneath it without problem, something residents and businesses on both sides of it requested.

“It will be 48 feet at the center of the bridge at mean high tide,” Reczek said.

There will be two travel lanes for vehicles in each direction, along with an eight-foot shoulder to allow bikers to proceed more safely, along with a sidewalk.

“People will still be able to fish from the bridge,” Reczek said. “But they’re going to need a longer fishing line.”

The state Department of Transportation is also working on plans to revamp Route 1A – or Ocean Boulevard – along Hampton Beach. That construction, Reczek said, whatever it turns out to be, won’t begin until the Underwood bridge replacement is completed.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton Harbor bridge project to start in 2024: Here's the latest