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This 2019 photo shows the eastbound Nashua Circumferential Highway at the exit for Daniel Webster Highway in Nashua. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

Length:
Constructed:

1.3 miles (2.1 kilometers)
1971-1999

AN EASTERN BYPASS FOR NASHUA: In 1959, the New Hampshire Department of Public Works and Highways announced plans for a beltway connecting the F.E. Everett Turnpike (US 3) in Nashua with NH 111 and NH 102 in Hudson. The Nashua Circumferential Highway was planned as a 180-degree loop connecting EXIT 2 on the Everett Turnpike with EXIT 9 on the Everett Turnpike. The beltway was to not only provide a direct freeway connection with Nashua's eastern suburbs, but also relieve congestion on the Taylor Falls Bridge (NH 102-NH 111), which at the time was the only vehicular crossing for a 30-mile distance from Manchester south to Tyngsborough, Massachusetts.

The state had established a preliminary route for the freeway, and the state's turnpike division began purchasing rights-of-way for the road, particularly in South Nashua and Hudson. In 1971, the state began work on a new Merrimack River crossing, the two-lane Sagamore Bridge, which included approach roads with surface intersections at Daniel Webster Highway and NH 3A. This route, which was built on the right-of-way reserved for the future Circumferential Highway, was opened to traffic in 1973.

Even as the state built a new four-lane, twin-span bridge at the site of the old Taylor Falls Bridge (now called the Taylor Falls-Veterans Memorial Bridge) in the early 1970s, there still was a need to alleviate congestion through the downtowns of Nashua and Hudson. In 1981, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) began environmental studies on the route of the Nashua Circumferential Highway and evaluated several alternatives. Three years later, the state decided on a preferred alignment, which it dubbed the "B-C" alignment as it combined the attributes of Alternate B and Alternate C, as follows:

  • Beginning at the Everett Turnpike in South Nashua, the Nashua Circumferential Highway was to be routed along its current alignment across the Merrimack River to NH 3A. The existing two-lane bridge over the Merrimack River was to be joined by a new two-lane parallel span. There were to be interchanges at the Everett Turnpike and Daniel W. Webster Highway in South Nashua, as well as at NH 3A in Hudson.

  • The Nashua Circumferential Highway was to continue in an east-northeasterly direction past Wason Road to Second Brook, where the freeway was to turn in a north-northeasterly direction toward Kimball Hill Road in Hudson.

  • Just past Kimball Hill Road, the Nashua Circumferential Highway was to turn northwesterly direction through Hudson. There was to have been a diamond interchange at NH 111 just east of Kimball Hill Road, and a diamond interchange at NH 102 just northeast of Alvirne High School.

  • North of the Hudson-Litchfield town line, the Nashua Circumferential Highway was to turn westerly through Litchfield toward the Merrimack River. There was to have been a diamond interchange at NH 3A between the town line and Darlene Lane in Litchfield.

  • The Nashua Circumferential Highway was to cross the Merrimack River again before veering on a west-northwesterly direction through Merrimack. There was to have been a diamond interchange with US 3 (Concord Street) just south of Harris Pond Road.

  • The Nashua Circumferential Highway was to end at a trumpet interchange with Everett Turnpike just south of Bower Pond. The interchange was to have been built between the current EXIT 9 (NH 101A Connector / Somerset Parkway) in Nashua and EXIT 10 (Industrial Drive) in Merrimack. (The final environmental impact statement from 1993 moved this trumpet interchange north of Bower Pond.)
    •

This 1976 photo shows the original Sagamore Bridge and the two-lane connector road. Note the signalized intersection ahead between the Sagamore Bridge connector and NH 3A past the bridge. (Photo by New Hampshire Department of Transportation.)

THE SOUTHERN MERRIMACK RIVER CROSSING: It took nearly a decade from the release of the draft environmental impact statement in 1984 and the development of the final environmental impact statement in 1993, which had as its preferred alternative a "full-build" beltway alignment roughly similar to the "B-C" alignment selected earlier. Although the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) vetoed the full-build alternative the following year, the agency reached a compromise with Governor Steve Merrill and the NHDOT in 1995 to build the southern and northern segments of the freeway. However, only the southern segment was built.

Construction of the Nashua Circumferential Highway began in 1997 and was conducted in conjunction with the Everett Turnpike widening project through Nashua. The project featured construction of a new parallel span built just to the south of the existing Sagamore Bridge, such that the new span would carry eastbound traffic, while the existing span, which was widened as part of the project, would carry westbound traffic. In addition to a new grade-separated interchange that replaced the existing at-grade intersection at Daniel W. Webster Highway, the four-to-six-lane freeway was built to connect to the new EXIT 2 on the Everett Turnpike. Construction of this interchange required the demolition of the existing state welcome center along the northbound lanes. The 1.3-mile-long expressway, which is signed as a spur of the Everett Turnpike, was completed on November 2, 1999.

According to the NHDOT, the Nashua Circumferential Highway carries about 45,000 vehicles per day (AADT). Owing to its short length, the freeway spur has a speed limit of 45 MPH. The original span, along with the anticipation of a new freeway link, brought an initial wave of industrial development to the town of Hudson in the late 1970s. The parallel span and completion of the freeway link brought a second wave of commercial development to Hudson by the turn of the millennium, while providing easier access to the existing commercial corridor along Daniel Webster Highway, as well as the Everett Turnpike.

This 2017 photo shows the current eastern terminus of the Nashua Circumferential Highway at NH 3A (Lowell Road) in Hudson. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

This map from the 1984 draft environmental impact statement shows the various alternatives for the Nashua Circumferential Highway. The 1984 report recommended that the "B-C" alternative from the Sagamore Bridge approach to Bowers Pond be adopted, and the 1993 final environmental impact statement recommended a similar alignment. (Map by New Hampshire Department of Transportation.)

"In the 1990s we must find the right balance between protecting natural resources and growing our economy. This project does not strike that balance." - John Devillars, EPA New England Administrator in the agency's veto of the full-build alternative

A FIRST-EVER VETO FOR THE EPA: Although the NHDOT prepared a final environmental impact statement for the full-build Nashua Circumferential Highway in 1993, it was far from final word on the proposed 12.5-mile-long freeway, which cost an estimated $270 million for the preferred alternative. In 1994, John Devillars, the EPA's newly appointed New England regional administrator, vetoed this full-build alternative. It was the first highway ever vetoed by the EPA, and only the 11th project ever vetoed since the EPA was founded in 1970. In his veto letter to the NHDOT and the Army Corps of Engineers, Devillars cited the following potential negative environmental impacts from the proposed freeway:

  • The destruction of more than 40 acres of wetlands;

  • The filling of 12 acres of floodplain;

  • The disruption of 18 streams and stream corridors;

  • Significant impacts on a 3,000-acre tract of land that is one of the last remaining wildlife refuges in southern New Hampshire (particularly a 500-acre forest block between NH 3A and NH 111 in Hudson); and

  • The destruction of wetlands surrounding the Merrimack River and surrounding tributaries.

BREAKING THE "CIRC" IN TWO: With the EPA's rejection of the full-build alternative, the NHDOT sought a compromise with the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1995, the state reached a compromise with the Federal government in which it would build the southern segment of freeway from the Everett Turnpike in South Nashua to NH 3A in Hudson, as well as a northern segment from the Everett Turnpike in Merrimack to NH 3A in Litchfield.

The state built the southern segment of the Nashua Circumferential Highway as part of the Everett Turnpike widening project in the southernmost part of the state, as NHDOT saw construction of the southern segment as a higher priority. However, the Merrimack-Litchfield segment, which entailed a new Merrimack River crossing, required a new environmental study called a "supplemental environmental impact statement," since it was considered a stand-alone project. In the early 2000s, the northern segment was a component of the state's 10-year transportation program, but sometime after that, this segment was dropped from the plan, particularly in light of other state highway priorities, particularly the widening of I-93 (Alan B. Shepard Highway) from the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border north to Manchester.

INTRODUCING HUDSON BOULEVARD: As congestion continued to build on NH 3A, NH 111, and other local roads, the Town of Hudson in 2009 proposed buying the state's right-of-way, which measures up to 400 feet in width, to build a new two-lane road. The proposed road, which the town later called "Hudson Boulevard," was to have partial access control, with signalized intersections at Musquash Road, Bush Hill Road, Speare Road, Kimball Hill Road, and NH 111. There was to be an overpass carrying Trigate Road over the road. Unlike the proposed four-lane Nashua Circumferential Highway, which was to have a 65 MPH speed limit, the proposed two-lane road was to have a 35 MPH speed limit. The NHDOT rebuffed this proposal, telling the town's Board of Selectmen that the right-of-way was purchased with turnpike funds backed by tolls, and that the town would need to pay the state for the land at fair market value.

In 2018, the town's Board of Selectmen persuaded enough legislators to add a line to the state's 10-year highway plan that authorized the NHDOT to plan, engineer, and build a new road with town funds within the existing NHDOT right-of-way. As part of this agreement, the NHDOT maintained the right to build the full four-lane, grade-separated Nashua Circumferential Highway from NH 3A to NH 111, as well as operate tolling infrastructure to pay for the construction and maintenance of the freeway. (Under the NHDOT plan, there would be no interchanges between NH 3A and NH 111.)

The town estimated the cost of building Hudson Boulevard to be $45 million, with a scheduled completion date of 2025, and had hoped for a $25 million Federal "BUILD" grant to defray part of the cost. In January 2019, the town postponed the project when it learned that the Federal government did not include the project in its list of transportation grants.

This map from the Town of Hudson's "BUILD" grant application report shows the proposed route of Hudson Boulevard within the NHDOT right-of-way. (Map by Town of Hudson.)

EXTEND THE "CIRC" TO NH 111: The Nashua Circumferential Highway should be extended as a full four-lane freeway from NH 3A to NH 111. Upon completion, the entire length of the road from the Everett Turnpike to NH 111 should be given the NH 311 designation. Furthermore, in conjunction with this project, the existing NH 111, from the terminus of the Nashua Circumferential Highway in Hudson to I-93 in Windham, should be expanded to a four-lane divided arterial.

SOURCES: "Nashua-Hudson Circumferential Highway: Draft Environmental Impact Statement," New Hampshire Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration (1984); "New Hampshire Executive Council Votes To Hike All Highway Tolls," by Adolphe V. Bernotas, The Boston Globe (10/12/1989); "US Orders New Nashua Road Study" by Robert Braile, The Boston Globe (6/03/1990); "Nashua-Hudson Circumferential Highway: Final Environmental Impact Statement," New Hampshire Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration (1993); "Press Release: EPA Puts a Halt on Nashua Circumferential Highway," US Environmental Protection Agency (3/31/1994); "EPA Sounds Death Knell for Bypass" by Kevin Landrigan, The Nashua Telegraph (4/01/1994); "NH Drops Its Nashua Road Plan" by Robert Braile, The Boston Globe (8/23/1995); "Circumferential Highway White Paper," Nashua Regional Planning Commission (2003); "Transportation Emergency Preparedness Plan for the Nashua Region," Nashua Regional Planning Commission (2010); "Hudson Boulevard: BUILD Grant Application," Town of Hudson (2018); "Hudson Board of Selectmen Opt Not To Include Major Roadway Project in Town Warrant" by Ryan Lessard, New Hampshire Union-Leader (1/13/2019).

  • NH 311 shield by Steve Anderson.
  • Lightposts by Millerbernd Manufacturing Company..

NASHUA CIRCUMFERENTIAL HIGHWAY LINKS:

NASHUA CIRCUMFERENTIAL HIGHWAY CURRENT TRAFFIC CONDITIONS:

NASHUA CIRCUMFERENTIAL HIGHWAY EXIT LIST:

  • Nashua Circumferential Highway exit list by Steve Anderson.

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