Sound Barriers
Update
Work begins the week of October 28. This is a State-run project through Northeast Earth Mechanics, LLC of Pittsfield, NH.
Governor Sununu and the Executive Council at their September 25, 2024 meeting authorized the NH Department of Transportation (NHDOT) to enter into a contract with Northeast Earth Mechanics, LLC of Pittsfield, NH for the construction of sound abatement walls and privacy fencing along I-95 in Portsmouth. The contract amount is $18,771,486.75. The next step is for NHDOT to issue a Notice to Proceed to the contractor.
The project will construct two new sound abatement walls on the southbound side of I-95 and a privacy fence along northbound I-95 adjacent to the New Franklin School. The southern soundwall starts near the Exit 3 southbound offramp, is interrupted by the Sherburne Road bridge, and then continues to where the Exit 4 southbound offramp for Spaulding Turnpike meets I-95 southbound.
The privacy fence is located on I-95 northbound, starts 275 feet north of Woodbury Avenue and continues north to the end of the New Franklin school property.
Background:
The NH DOT made a presentation at the November 29, 2023 Parking & Traffic Safety Committee meeting. Go to the video recording for the revised schedule and next steps.
Results of the noise study conducted at New Franklin School (.pdf).
Given that the New Franklin School site does not meet the federal criteria for sound barriers, the FY25-30 CIP includes $50,000 to investigate and implement sound barriers on the southern side. Any project would have to be built on City property or private property.
At a City Council presentation on November 15, 2021, (timestamp 43:56) NHDOT officials confirmed that the Pannaway Manor and Rockingham Avenue neighborhoods met the criteria for the construction of a sound barrier between homes there and nearby Interstate 95. However, a proposed sound barrier for the New Franklin School neighborhood — which is located close to I-95, Route 1 and the Spaulding Turnpike — did not meet the NHDOT criteria.
Assistant DOT Commissioner Bill Cass told the City Council the projects qualified for state monies because of the project to allow the use of I-95 shoulders from the Portsmouth traffic circle to the Maine/New Hampshire border during peak volume periods. Because that project added capacity to the highway, the sound barrier projects qualified for funding.
The City sent a letter to NHDOT in September 2022 suggesting supplemental funding for sound-proofing to enhance the privacy fencing DOT plans to install along the I-95 corridor adjacent to New Franklin School. In December 2022 the City received this letter from DOT explaining why Federal projects disallowed that approach.
Residents in the Pannaway Manor neighborhood requested sound barriers along the Interstate 95 corridor to reduce noise coming from I-95. In July 2019, NH DOT declared Portsmouth eligible for $2.3 million in state funding for the construction of the sound barriers. At the time, Portsmouth was the first community in the Granite State to be approved for New Hampshire Department of Transportation's Type II Noise Abatement Program.
Noise abatement for the I-95 corridor was listed in the city's CIP in 2018. In April of that year, Department of Transportation Assistant Commissioner Bill Cass visited and inspected the site where the sound barriers would be installed, and the following January, the City Council adopted the Noise Highway Overlay District. Council members also adopted zoning ordinances addressing development in areas that are close to the highway, which were required for the state funding application. In fall 2019, NHDOT conducted a pilot assessment of the project to identify all Type II-eligible abatement measures within the City of Portsmouth.
In September 2021, The Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation heard public comment on including the sound barriers in the draft 2023-2032 Ten-Year Transportation Improvement Plan. In addition to Pannaway Manor, residents of the New Franklin/Jewels neighborhood spoke in favor of sound barriers for their neighborhood.
City funding for additional sound barriers is being considered for the CIP for FY24-29.
