To the NH Department of Transportation on Your 10-Year Plan
The Ten Year Plan includes infrastructure funding - for bridges, roads, rail trails, and airports. What this plan DOESN'T include is public transportation investment or electric vehicle infrastructure. With the climate crisis worsening, we need every facet of our state government to include climate action in their long term planning. Write a message to the Executive Council and the Commissioner of NHDOT to tell them what YOU want to see in their ten year plan.
The Advisory Commission wants all comments to be mailed to them - so please write your letter in this form, and we will print it out and mail it for you. Here is a draft letter you can use to start (you can copy this letter into the letter box of the form, or use just part of it). Please customize it - tell the council why you want to see climate accounted for in the transportation plan.
To the Commissioner of NHDOT and the Executive Councilors,
The ten year plan for transportation in NH is a start on improving our roads, bridges, and transportation throughout the state. However, the plan is lacking investments in renewable energy infrastructure and public transportation. We saw increased flooding and storms this summer that wiped out roads. We also saw costs rise - from housing to food to energy. We need our transportation plan to meet this moment we are in.
Our transportation plan for this state needs to include affordable, accessible public transportation. More public transportation options will mean fewer cars on the road, reducing traffic and pollution. People in NH have been asking for the commuter rail from Boston to extend to Nashua and Manchester for years. Our transportation plan also has to accommodate the increase we are seeing in electric vehicle use. We need more chargers available to the public and we need more government vehicles to transition to electric vehicle use.
Thank you for your consideration.
- signed
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If you'd prefer to mail the letter yourself, you can mail it to:
William E. Watson, P.E.
Bureau of Planning and Community Assistance
New Hampshire Department of Transportation
John O. Morton Building, 7 Hazen Drive
P.O. Box 483
Concord, NH 03302-0483
Or attend a hearing! Here's the schedule for hearings.
Thank you for taking action on this issue!