Merrimack wins David v. Goliath battle in 10-year highway plan
May 19—CONCORD — Local legislators and town officials from Merrimack celebrated a victory Wednesday after House leaders agreed to drop plans to turn ownership and maintenance of Continental Boulevard over to the town.
House Public Works and Highways Committee Chairman John Graham, R-Bedford, said he hadn't changed his mind about transferring the road from the state to the town, but he decided the controversy wasn't worth risking the entire $4.6 billion, 10-year highway program.
Senate leaders had insisted that keeping Continental Boulevard under state ownership had to be part of the compromise legislation (HB 2022) that spells out the 10-year schedule for all spending on highway, mass transit, rail and transportation projects in the state.
Transportation Commissioner Victoria Sheehan said she looks forward to Gov. Chris Sununu signing the finalized bill, which will incorporate an additional $500 million in federal grants coming to the state over the next five years through the federal infrastructure law.
"We are excited that we will be able to move things up and do them sooner," Sheehan said. "This is a very important day."
Sheehan has worked with the Executive Council, Sununu and the Legislature to readjust timelines to finish projects quicker with this additional money.
"We can accelerate additional dollars across all categories of work," Sheehan said.
As for the Merrimack dispute, Sheehan said that was a "policy matter" for the House and Senate to work out. The DOT stayed out of it.
Tolls key to the dispute
Graham had been a leading proponent of having Merrimack take ownership of Continental Boulevard since the state removed the three exit-ramp tolls along the F.E. Everett Turnpike in town.
Continental Boulevard runs from the turnpike's Exit 11 south to Route 101A near the Nashua city line. The boulevard is also fed by Industrial Drive, which connects to Daniel Webster Highway and the turnpike's Exit 10.
State widening and control of Continental Boulevard was a pivotal part of the bargain Merrimack officials made in 1993 to benefit Digital Equipment Corp. and lure other companies to industrial space off that feeder road. That Digital Equipment campus is now home to Fidelity Investments.
In return, town officials agreed to ramp tolls at all three turnpike exits in town.
Those three ramp tolls have been removed in the past few years. Now that the state is no longer collecting $1.7 million a year in toll revenues from the ramps, Graham and other advocates said the town should have to take over the boulevard.
Merrimack legislators and town officials, led by Reps. Bill Boyd and Rosemarie Rung, organized to fight this change.
Boyd said it would have cost town taxpayers $200,000 each year to maintain it.
"This is a huge win for the town, but it's also one on behalf of many towns. There's a reason these main roads that go through communities are state roads," Boyd said. "They have a state purpose and should be state-maintained."
The House killed Merrimack's bid, 181-148, last spring.
But Sen. Gary Daniels, R-Milford, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, convinced the Senate to revive it as part of the Senate version of the 10-year program.
