Photo courtesy of NHDOT
NHDOT joined federal and local officials to announce the first-of-its-kind grant dedicated to transportation infrastructure resilience under the Federal Highway Administration’s Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Grant Program.
Beside the shores of New Hampshire's Rye Harbor, pummeled in January by coastal storms, officials from local, state and federal agencies gathered April 22 to discuss the future resiliency of the N.H. Highway 1A corridor with help from a $20.2 million federal grant.
Earlier in the day, Gov. Chris Sununu announced that President Biden had approved more than $3 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds to help repair some of the damage from the January storms that pummeled Rockingham and Grafton counties.
The Federal Highway Administration (FWHA) PROTECT grant is allocated directly to the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT). It is designed to shore up seawalls along a 3-mi. stretch between North Hampton and Rye, two local communities battered by the back-to-back winter coastal storms and flooding events that resulted in widespread damage to public and private property.
The Portsmouth Herald reported that by securing public infrastructure, the state's goal is to reduce the impact of future storms and floods that strike the New Hampshire Seacoast and minimize travel disturbances.
FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt was joined at the announcement by the state's Democratic U.S. senators, Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, in addition to U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-1st District, and area municipal officials for an Earth Day event hailing the award.
The grant for reconstruction efforts in the Seacoast is part of the FHWA's $829.6 million that is earmarked for 80 projects throughout 37 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"What is very clear is after more and more of these storms [is the] protection that was great for decades is not standing up to the 21st-century climate, which I think is emblematic of our infrastructure system," Bhatt said in his appearance at Rye Harbor State. "The system that was designed in the 20th century isn't able to handle the precipitation rates and the storm rates that we're seeing on an increasing basis."
Reconstruction Effort to Stretch Over Five Contracts
NHDOT Commissioner Bill Cass told the crowd the N.H. Highway 1A resilience project dates back to several storms in early 2018 that weakened local public infrastructure, similar to the storms that roared through at the start of 2024.
He added that the Seacoast project will likely be conducted in three phases.
"We want to rebuild these revetments and stone walls back, so they'll be able to withstand those storms and hopefully recover quicker," Cass said.
Work on the project will be completed over five construction contracts, according to the state agency. Fourteen revetment stone barriers and sea walls are planned to be tended to over a multi-year period.
As part of the effort, one of the first priorities is reconstructing the revetment sections between the North Hampton and Rye town lines near Fox Hill Point and Rye Ledge, a roughly 0.6-mi. span, the Herald reported.
An NHDOT narrative from last August notes that $20 million in aid would cover about 80 percent of the estimated construction costs for the project.
Bhatt said that design work for the project is roughly 30 percent complete and the state transportation agency is about two years away from beginning any construction, an effort that could take upwards of two years.
"Our coastal seawalls play a pivotal role in safeguarding critical state and local infrastructure, necessitating substantial post-storm cleanup and repair efforts after each coastal storm or flooding event," added Rye Town Administrator Matthew Scruton. "The vulnerability of Route 1A, a vital artery for both local and regional transportation, looms large with each storm or flooding occurrence. This project will reconstruct the seawalls and coastal erosion protections, substantially improving our coastal resilience."
Getting Ready for Future Storms, Sea Rise
The coastal resiliency grant award comes as local officials throughout Rockingham County are set to receive a separate batch of money after New Hampshire's disaster declaration for the January storms and flooding was recently approved.
Though distinct from each other, the PROTECT grant and the FEMA funding will complement each other, Rye Public Works Director Jason Rucker told the Portsmouth news source. He estimated roughly $500,000 worth of damage was incurred across the two weather events.
"They're trying to shore that up and [temporarily install] something more robust to try and get us through the summer season," added Rye Police Department Chief Kevin Walsh.
Members of New Hampshire's congressional delegation spoke to the importance of rebuilding for the future rather than only addressing current needs and damage.
"We can't just be satisfied with the fact that we might repair the damage as the infrastructure used to exist and feel like we're prepared for the future," said Pappas. "That's not a recipe for success. We have to be building for the future."
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