Federal Highway Bill to Bring Infrastructure Improvements to New Hampshire

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 9, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Frank Guinta voted for the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform (STRR) Act of 2015, saying the six-year funding authorization would allow the Granite State to begin long-awaited infrastructure projects.

“We have over a hundred red-list bridges in New Hampshire needing repair, starting with Sarah Long Bridge in Portsmouth, with its malfunctioning drawbridge,” said Rep. Guinta. “We need to complete the Interstate 93 widening to meet our growing economy in southern New Hampshire. With long-term funding, these sites, as well as a spur near Londonderry and Derry, should finally see hardhats.”

Manchester’s former mayor, a current member of the House Financial Services Committee, explained that the STRR Act ends a series of short-term fixes that have caused delays and waste around the country. “Previous Congresses, Republican and Democrat, have failed to find a solution to our crumbling highways,” said Rep. Guinta. “I’m proud this 114th Congress has accomplished our goal in a bipartisan manner.”

Included in the bill is elimination or consolidation of six Department of Transportation offices to create a more efficient financing agency, responsive to public and private partners. States would receive block grants to pursue targeted local projects, and an overhaul of federal truck regulations would lift burdens on small businesses.

Rep. Guinta pointed to enhanced safety and national security measures. “We’re incentivizing new technologies to reduce traffic and collisions and improving emergency preparedness. Today’s bill addresses our most pressing transport needs,” he said, “especially the need to stop governing by crisis. We’re paving the way to growth and jobs.”