Opportunities for Funding in New Hampshire

By Victoria H. Chase, Project Manager,
New Hampshire Department of Transportation

Two sources of funding to enhance the safety and accessibility of communities are available through the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT). The funding, established by The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) in 1991 was continued with the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21) in 1998.

CMAQ is usable for transit and carpool projects, traffic management and control systems, as well as bicycle and pedestrian facilities. CMAQ funding must be used in Air Quality Non-Attainment areas. These are primarily located in the southerly New Hampshire.

The Transportation Enhancement Program (TE)

TE is available for and environmental mitigation, bicycle, pedestrian, scenic, historic, landscaping projects.

The NHDOT publication "Manual for the Development of CMAQ and TE Projects" (published April 2000) outlines the application and project development process of the grants.

The funding selection occurs every two years. The next round begins June 2001. It will be initiated by the Regional Planning Commissions (RPC). Project funding is typically available for two or three years. These are reimbursement programs, which usually require a match of 80% federal and 20% municipal.

Recent Projects

There have been five rounds of selection, 187 TE projects and 105 CMAQ projects have been funded statewide. Some of the projects include:

• multi-modal transit centers in Portsmouth, Nashua and Concord
• extensive bicycle and pedestrian path surrounding Derry
• purchase of buses, utilized by private intercity bus companies
• rail stations in Exeter and Dover
• sidewalks in Nashua

• rail station in Durham and rehabilitation of rail station in Plymouth.
• purchase of abandoned rail corridors statewide
• sidewalks and pedestrian improvements in Canterbury and sidewalks in Plymouth, Newmarket, Exeter, and Wolfeboro
• bike shoulders in Conway
• drainage modifications to protect water quality