GILFORD — Plans to build a state-of-the art bridge across the Broads of Lake Winnipesaukee were unveiled Friday by the Gilford and Tuftonboro planning departments. The project has been hailed by town administrators and investors as “The Golden Gate of the Northeast.”
“This is going to be a really momentous project,” said Chuck Geyswell, a project manager with New England No. 1 Engineering and Construction, the contractor for the job. “This bridge is going to directly connect the thriving communities of Tuftonboro and Gilford, as well as provide thousands of jobs over the next 10 years.”
The structure, officially known as the Broads Bridge of Winnipesaukee, or BBW, will tower 80 feet above the water's surface, and stretch over 5 miles from Belknap Point to Tuftonboro Neck.
The start date for the project is July 1, with a completion date sometime around September 2034. Current plans show the bridge will begin with an overpass off Route 11 in the Lincoln Park area. Homeowners along Belknap Point Road won’t be too negatively affected, according to Geyswell.
“That’s actually where the overpass starts,” Geyswell said. “Sure, it’ll cast some shadows in the area, but that way we won’t have to bulldoze any of the properties already there.”
The BBW will also feature a foot and bicycle lane, allowing a full assortment of cyclists, joggers and walkers to move across Winnipesaukee at their leisure.
Such an ambitious structure comes at a steep cost. The current estimate for construction is $1.3 billion. Gov. Chris Sununu has committed $250,000 from the state to the project, but said the rest of the funding will be on the towns of the Lakes Region.
“I think big government is really only good at a few things,” Sununu said, “Infrastructure is something I think is best done by local, efficient municipalities. I have high confidence the people of the Lakes Region will be able to get this project done through good ole Granite Stater grit.”
“I think some people are really worrying too much about the cost,” said Sandra “Sandy” Riggs, the recently appointed head of the newly formed Lakes Region BBW Budget Committee. “Just think of the extra tourism dollars a feature like this will bring. Bikers from all over the country will flock here to get a glimpse of the BBW.”
Riggs, a 2020 transplant from Sacramento, California, added that in addition to increased tourism revenue, the committee managed to fund the first half-billion thanks to partnerships with offshore investors.
“We’re looking to fund the remaining half billion with a few minor tax rate increases for the surrounding towns,” Riggs explained. “Former Senate candidate Bruce Fenton is consulting us on investing in the crypto space for additional funds. I have a really good feeling about this project.”
(20) comments
[thumbdown] This is most hairbrained idea yet. Destroy the beauty of the lake with a bridge. You would be better off with a project that connects all the lakes via channels. And this would be a lot cheaper. I hope this idea gets crushed !!!
April Fools! LOL Everyone knows there is an active volcano under Lake Winnipesaukee. It cant be built.
Please do not build this and ruin the pristine beauty of this lake. The start and end point will serve no purpose other than the bridge itself. We just recently escaped from the city to our forever home in moultonborough, and this bridge will not decrease our travel time south, nor will it bring big-city tourist money to points north faster and easier than the existing routes through Alton Bay and Merideth.
This bridge is a bridge to nowhere proposed to us by a transplant from California who probably got that state to (recently) build it’s own bridge to nowhere.
I have a little trouble with the math here. The state is chipping in $250,000, or about $0.3billion. then "the first half billion" is from 'offshore partners' (we want offshore people having that many fingers in our little towns?) And there will be tax increases for the "other" half billion (can't call those minor, sorry!). That is only ONE point three billion. Where is the other 45% of the money coming from?
Well, I just experienced a whole range of emotions reading this article. Shock, disbelief, sadness and then I looked at the date of the article...and took a deep breath and said a prayer....April Fool's?! I hope! 😉
If this is a truthful article, then I will have to label it "Northern Pass" of Lake Winnipesaukee and will dig out my orange gear and hopefully educate others before it actually begins! 😊
April Fools!
happy april fools, i sincerely hope.
if not, i hope a comet hits us and ends life on earth as we know it before this can ever come to fruition.
Best April fool's gag ever! You got me!
Who will this honestly benefit? There already is a couple major thoroughfares to points north through the lakes region. We just moved to Moultonborough, and this bridge will not make a trip to Manchester or Boston any shorter, nor will it get Massachusetts money into wolfboro/Conway/moultonborough any faster than taking hwy26 or hwy109. I say NO!
Simply a Bad Idea !!
I love it!! it demonstrates that the governor and the old man of the mountain have similar brain cells. And happy April fools day to all!
You almost had me until I looked at the calendar,
This is the worst idea I have seen in a long time. NH is all About the natural beauty of our state. This project will mark the beginning of the end of NH being a destination state
Brilliant!! The Porcupine Sanctuary gave it all away
The state is kicking in a whole $250k out of $1.3B? Is that a misprint? You've got to be kidding. The local towns are going to fund the bulk of the project? No federal money? Muni bonds? Which overseas investors, exactly? Sounds like the locals are on the hook for someone's brilliant idea. Does that tax hike have a sunset provision for when the bridge is completed, or just an excuse to raise taxes permanently?
What about all the oil and other fluids leaking from cars driving over the lake? What is the mitigation plan for all those pollutants?
Sounds like another bridge to nowhere boondoggle, but I'm just someone who loves to vacation in your beautiful area. As long as everybody in the area is good with it, I'll be happy to drive over it.
[beam] you got me on this one! Congrats happy today!
Are the people in this area intent on ruining everything about this area that makes it beautiful? Just keep building condos, tearing down forests, and building bridges across one of the greatest lakes in New England. And turn this area into some disgusting traffic infested north Massachusetts hole.. Wake up before it's too late.
Of course. A bridge across the lake, a 30-story garage in Lacoia, and a 100-day motorcycle event. What is today??? April Fools Day.
Some one please explain to my what the point of this fiasco is? Why and what for?
Looks like the folks from away are at it again
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