Troubled Bridge Over NH/Maine Water Needs Your Help

June 23rd, 2010 - Tonight at 7:00 at the Little Theater at Portsmouth High will be the last opporunity for the public to have it's voice heard on the topic of the Memorial Bridge - At the Final Public Meeting of the Connections Study.

In the previous Stakeholders meeting, the Maine DOT made it clear that the State does not value the Memorial Bridge; instead it wants to rebuild the Sarah Long or "Middle Bridge" as a back up to the I-95 bridge for Maine's interstate commerce.

UNLESS the State of Maine can be convinced otherwise, they would close the Memorial (Downtown/ U.S. Route 1) Bridge forever. The State of New Hampshire has offered to replace the Memorial Bridge but requires Maine to participate in the maintenance and repair as well as do its part by replacing/repairing the Sarah Long (Rt 1 ByPass/Middle) Bridge - a requirement to which Maine has not yet committed.

The Portsmouth Herald ran an article on the last meeting which you can link to here for a summary of the results from that meeting.
Delay on study of bridges raises ire SeacoastOnline.com -

Wether you are for or against the Memorial Bridge, you can learn more about the issue by visiting the Maine-NH Connection Study Website -

Come to the meeting tonight and voice your opinion. Tonights meeting should provide further updates on.
· What is the status of the Bike/Pedestrian Bridge option?
· What is the status of the new "Hybrid Bridge/No Memorial Bridge" option?
· Is Maine going to come up with another option for the bridges and further delay the Connections Study?

If you cannot attend tonights meeting, you still have an opportunty to send a message to the Commissioner of the DOT in Maine (David Cole), by stopping by either the The Golden Harvest or Autoworks in Kittery (who have funded a postcard, that the York Chamber of Commerce is funding the postage on) and complete one of the postcards and have your voice heard (other local businesses have the postcard available for completion as well).

It's not to late to Get Informed, Get Motivated, Get Involved.