State transportation officials & road contractors say N.H. economy will take a big hit if House budget is adopted

LACONIA — The Department of Transportation anticipates that the spending cuts proposed by the House budget will lead to shelving some 17 scheduled highway projects in Belknap County and to shrinking highway block grants to Laconia and the 10 towns by 15-percent.

With less work scheduled, Larry Major of Pike Industries said that the seasonal increase in construction employment would fall far short of usual levels.

In a letter to the House Finance Committee, George Campbell, commissioner of transportation, warned that with the loss of 96 positions and reduced funds for construction the mission of DOT will be "dramatically altered." He said that as a result of the proposed cuts the agency would forgo another $13-million a year in federal funding.

Apart from reducing appropriations and personnel, the House also refused to continue the $30-surcharge on motor vehicle registrations, which was introduced to replenish the highway fund in 2009 but set to expire at the end of the current fiscal year in June. The surcharge, together with the federal funds it matches, represents $90-million for road and bridge work.

The Betterment Program, which is intended to maintain roads and bridges, would be reduced by 38-percent, from $36.5-million to $22.5-million a year, which together with foregone federal matching funds would represent annual reductions in the highway and bridge programs of $43-million. in each year of the biennium.

The betterment projects eliminated during the next two to four years in Belknap County would include paving work worth $65,105 in Laconia, $157,000 in Alton, $182,506 in Barnstead, $85,800 in Belmont, $252,895 in Gilford, $20,000 in Gilmanton, $33, 282 in Sanbornton and $229,718 in Tilton. In addition, two highway rehabilitation projects in Sanbornton with a total value of $1,550,000 would also be scrubbed.

Campbell said that between 2012 and 2020 construction funds for the Ten Year Transportation Plan would be reduced by $500-million.

In Belknap County, three projects included in the Ten Year Transportation Plan would be dropped and two others put in jeopardy between 2012 and 2020. They are: in Alton, improvements to the intersection of NH Route 28 and Stockbridge Corner Road, estimated at $1.5-million and scheduled for 2012; rehabilitation of NH Route 28 between Barnstead and Alton, estimated at $3.2-million and scheduled for 2015; reconstruction of NH Route 106 south of the bypass in Laconia and Belmont, estimated at $3.2-million and scheduled for 2018.

Meanwhile, the reconstruction of the junction of NH Route 25 and US Route 3 in Meredith, with an estimated cost of $5-million, and the repair of bridges over the Winnipesaukee River on I-93 in Northfield, estimated at $3-million, would be placed at risk by the proposed cuts.

Highway Block Grants to cities and towns would be reduced from $35-million to $30-million per year, with funding for the 11 municipalities in Belknap County decreasing by $305,603 per year in aggregate. Funding would decrease by $58,544 for Laconia, $31,026 for Alton, $29,935 for Barnstead, $32,480 for Belmont, $6,479 for Center Harbor, $37,561 for Gilford, $25,210 for Gilmanton, $35,793 for Meredith, $17,162 for New Hampton, $20,716 for Sanbornton and $10,697 for Tilton.

The impact on employment would be significant. Calling the cuts in the DOT budget "a job killer," Major said that "we're not hiring and it's not just us." He estimated that about a quarter of the company's personnel — as many as 100 employees — would not be recalled this year unless the state and municipalities put more work out to bid, adding that "we're already down 20-percent."

Major explained that with the slump in residential and commercial construction, state and municipal projects represent a greater share of the work available to contractors. Budget constraints have also prompted cities and towns to pare expenditures for roadwork. The impact, Major stressed, is not confined to large contractors but will also affect asphalt plants as well as smaller operators who supply and haul materials to work sites.

Bill Boynton, spokesman for the DOT, said that DOT's budget would have a "ripple effect" throughout the state's economy.