New Hampshire Highway System

Standard marker for New Hampshire Routes, featuring the Old Man of the Mountain

The New Hampshire Highway System is the public roads system of the U.S. state of New Hampshire containing approximately 17,029 miles (27,406 km) maintained by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. All public roads in the state are called "highways", thus there is no technical distinction between a "road" or a "highway" in New Hampshire.

Overview

The state maintains 4,814 miles (7,747 km) of roads, of which 2,567 miles (4,131 km) are numbered routes and 1,465 miles (2,358 km) are unnumbered roadways making up the State's secondary roadway system. The state has 557 miles (896 km) of primary highways, which it defines as highways that "connect population centers, other NHS routes within the state, and other NHS routes in the surrounding states: Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts." The remaining 12,215 miles (19,658 km) of roads are maintained typically by the towns and cities traversed by these roads.

Highways assigned a number by the NHDOT are officially known as "New Hampshire Route X", often abbreviated "NH Route X" or simply "Route X".

Many minor state highways are not assigned numbers, only local names.

In March 2011, New Hampshire ranked amongst the top ten "Best" states in the American State Litter Scorecard, for overall effectiveness and quality of its public space cleanliness—-primarily roadway and adjacent litter--from state and related debris removal efforts. ^[1]

Interstate highways

A total of 224.2 miles (360.8 km) of roadway in New Hampshire are part of the Interstate Highway system.

• Three primary Interstates pass through New Hampshire: Interstate 89, Interstate 93, and Interstate 95.
• Two secondary Interstates are located in New Hampshire, Interstate 293 and Interstate 393.
  • The southern portion of I-293 (formerly designated I-193) runs along part of Route 101.
  • The remainder of I-293 runs along a portion of the Everett Turnpike.
  • I-393 runs concurrently with a 4.5-mile section of U.S. Route 4 and U.S. Route 202.

Turnpike system

Main article: New Hampshire Turnpike System

The NHDOT Bureau of Turnpikes is responsible for maintenance of the public toll roads in New Hampshire:

• • Frederick E. Everett Turnpike (also known as the Central Turnpike), which runs from the Massachusetts state line in Nashua north to Concord. It is routed along parts of U.S. Route 3, Interstate 293, and Interstate 93. It runs by itself between US-3 in Nashua and I-293 in Manchester, the only turnpike in New Hampshire not completely overlapped with another route. The turnpike is unsigned along its concurrency with I-93.
• Eastern Turnpike, which is composed of the following two connecting turnpikes:
  • Blue Star Turnpike (also known as the New Hampshire Turnpike) runs 14.3 miles from the Massachusetts border in Seabrook north to the Portsmouth Traffic Circle, where it connects with the southern end of the Spaulding Turnpike. The Blue Star Turnpike comprises most of Interstate 95's length in New Hampshire (minus the extension north into Maine) and is signed solely as I-95.
  • Spaulding Turnpike, which begins at an interchange with I-95 in Portsmouth and runs northward along the Maine state line to Milton. Formerly a lone route, Route 16 was routed over all but the southernmost 0.8 miles of the Turnpike. U.S. Route 4's easternmost stretch is also routed over the southern section of the Turnpike, between I-95 and Exit 6.

National Highway System

Main article: National Highway System (United States)

782 miles (1,259 km) of state-maintained roads are a part of the National Highway System (NHS). Of the NHS roads in the state, 225 miles (362 km) are Interstate highways (35 miles of which are also on the New Hampshire Turnpike System; 52 miles (84 km) of non-interstate turnpike highways; and 505 miles (813 km) of non-interstate and non-turnpike highways.

Classification of state highways

New Hampshire RSA 229:5 Classification. sets out the seven different classes of highways in the state:

• Class I – all portions of the turnpikes and the national system of interstate and defense highways, and all existing or proposed highways on the primary state highway system, excepting all portions of highways within the compact sections of the cities and towns listed in RSA 229:5, V., which aren't part of the state or national turnpike system or are defense highways
• Class II – all existing or proposed highways on the secondary state highway system, excepting all portions of such highways within the compact sections of the cities and towns listed in RSA 229:5, V.
• Class III – all recreational roads leading to, and within, state reservations designated by the General Court
• Class III-a – boating access highways from any existing highway to any public water in this state.
• Class IV – all highways within the compact sections of cities and towns listed in RSA 229:5, V., which are not Class I or II highways
• Class V – all other traveled highways which a town has the duty to maintain regularly and shall be known as town roads
• Class VI – all other existing public ways, including all highways discontinued as open highways and made subject to gates and bars, except Class III-a roads, and all highways which have not been maintained and repaired by the town for travel thereon for 5 or more successive years

Under RSA 229:5, V. the Commissioner of Transportation may establish compact sections in the following cities and towns:

Amherst Bedford Berlin Claremont Concord Derry Dover Durham Exeter

Franklin Goffstown Hampton Hanover Hudson Keene Laconia Lebanon Londonderry

Manchester Merrimack Milford Nashua Pelham Portsmouth Rochester Salem Somersworth

Routes crossing state lines

Two New Hampshire state routes actually cross state lines while retaining their designations:

• New Hampshire Route 113B, which is actually a loop of Maine State Route 113, is the only New Hampshire highway to cross entirely into Maine while remaining a New Hampshire route.
• New Hampshire Route 153, part of which runs directly on the Maine-New Hampshire state border for a short distance, touches the state of Maine but does not cross the border entirely.

In addition, Maine State Route 113 crosses in and out of New Hampshire along two short stretches. It remains under MaineDOT maintenance along these stretches.

Signage practices

State highways

Shield for NH Route 28 Bypass

State highways in New Hampshire are marked using square route shields depicting the Old Man of the Mountain. Unlike its neighboring states, New Hampshire does not use elongated shields for route markers, but uses condensed fonts for three-digit routes instead. Alternates of two- and three- digit routes (e.g. Route 113B) are signed with the parent highway's number over the letter of the alternate. New Hampshire also has one 'bypass' state route, Route 28 Bypass, which is marked with a standard Route 28 shield, except with the word 'BYPASS' over the numeral. Route 101 has its own business route, and its alternate, Route 101A, has its own bypass, but these routes are very poorly signed, if only on guide signs.

U.S. highways

Shield for U.S. Route 1 Bypass in New Hampshire

New Hampshire uses the standard issue U.S. Route shield, a six-point white shield over a black square background. New Hampshire does not use elongated route shields for U.S Routes, except on the occasional guide sign from a freeway. Alternates of U.S. Routes in New Hampshire are signed as state routes, with two exceptions: U.S. Route 1 Bypass and U.S. Route 3 Business. US-1 Bypass is signed in a similar fashion to Route 28 Bypass, a standard US-1 shield with the word 'BY-PASS' over the numeral. US-3 Business is unsigned, as it is completely overlapped by other routes.

Interstate highways

New Hampshire uses standard size Interstate shields for its two-digit Interstate highways. Elongated shields were not initially used for auxiliary Interstates, but such shields are appearing on newer signage. New Hampshire no longer uses its state name on Interstate shields, but older signs with the state name are still prevalent.

Route concurrencies

New Hampshire has an unusual way of signing route concurrencies. Rather than separate shield assemblies for each route, concurrencies are signed on green signs, similar to those found on freeway guide signs. These signs are also used for signing junctions with other routes, regardless of whether there is a concurrency. These particular sign assemblies are, however, lacking in cities.

Numbered state highways

1-27	28-105	106-127	128-999	Other Routes
U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 Bypass NH Route 1A NH Route 1B U.S. Route 2 U.S. Route 3 U.S. 3 Business NH Route 3A U.S. Route 4 NH Route 4 NH Route 4A NH Route 9 NH Route 9A NH Route 10 NH Route 10A NH Route 11 NH Route 11A NH Route 11B NH Route 11C NH Route 11D NH Route 12 NH Route 12A NH Route 13 NH Route 16 NH Route 16A NH Route 16B NH Route 18 NH Route 25 NH Route 25A NH Route 25B NH Route 25C NH Route 26 NH Route 27	NH Route 28 NH Route 28A NH Route 28 Bypass NH Route 31 NH Route 32 NH Route 33 NH Route 38 NH Route 41 NH Route 43 NH Route 45 NH Route 47 NH Route 49 NH Route 63 NH Route 75 NH Route 77 NH Route 78 NH Route 84 NH Route 85 NH Route 87 NH Route 88 Interstate 89 Interstate 93 Interstate 95 NH Route 97 NH Route 101 NH 101 Business NH Route 101A NH 101A Bypass NH Route 101E NH Route 102 NH Route 103 NH Route 103A NH Route 103B NH Route 104	NH Route 106 NH Route 107 NH Route 107A NH Route 108 NH Route 109 NH Route 109A NH Route 110 NH Route 110A NH Route 110B NH Route 111 NH Route 111A NH Route 112 NH Route 113 NH Route 113A NH Route 113B NH Route 114 NH Route 114A NH Route 115 NH Route 115A NH Route 116 NH Route 117 NH Route 118 NH Route 119 NH Route 120 NH Route 121 NH Route 121A NH Route 122 NH Route 123 NH Route 123A NH Route 124 NH Route 125 NH Route 126 NH Route 127	NH Route 128 NH Route 129 NH Route 130 NH Route 132 NH Route 135 NH Route 136 NH Route 137 NH Route 140 NH Route 141 NH Route 142 NH Route 145 NH Route 149 NH Route 150 NH Route 151 NH Route 152 NH Route 153 NH Route 155 NH Route 155A NH Route 156 NH Route 171 NH Route 175 NH Route 175A U.S. Route 202 NH Route 202A NH Route 236 NH Route 286 Interstate 293 U.S. Route 302 U.S. 302 Business Interstate 393	Unnumbered Routes Everett Turnpike Spaulding Turnpike Other state's route numbers posted in New Hampshire: Route 105 (Vermont) Route 110 (Maine) Route 113 (Maine) Former numbered routes New England Route 1 NH Route 3B U.S. Route 5 New England Route 6 New England Route 6A New England Route 9 New England Route 10 New England Route 11 New England Route 12 New England Route 15 New England Route 16 New England Route 18 New England Route 19 New England Route 25 New England Route 26 New England Route 28 New England Route 32 New England Route 32A NH Route 51 NH Route 86 I-89 Business Loop NH Route 101B NH Route 101C NH Route 101D Interstate 193

Unnumbered state highways

Several unnumbered roads also are maintained by the state, including:

• The Circumferential Highway in Nashua & Hudson (the portion that is built)
• Daniel Webster Highway in South Nashua

References

1. ^ S. Spacek, 2011 American State Litter Scorecard: New Rankings for An Increasingly Environmentally Concened Populace.

External links

• Granite State Roads
• Road Signs of New Hampshire