Concord, Bow I-93 Expansion Put on Hold

The Executive Council voted to delay two highway engineering contracts for expansion projects in Concord and the eastern part of New Hampshire, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.

The contracts included preparing I-93 for expansion from two lanes to three from the Bow junction with I-89 into Concord as well as work on the Spaulding Turnpike.

The engineering contracts were part of a multi-year New Hampshire Department of Transportation 10-year construction plan.

Chris Clement, the commissioner for the department, stated that the contracts could be reviewed in the future but would probably not be funded without a toll increase, due to the lack of project funds

The I-93 corridor through Concord, which is heavily used on weekends and during weekday and evening commuter hours, is part of the Everett Turnpike system, which runs from the Massachusetts border in Nashua to Plymouth.

Tolls on the Everett Turnpike were last raised in 2007, more than $20 million, or about 29 percent at the time of the increase. That increase was the first one in 18 years.