Circumferential Highway (Nashua)

The Circumferential Highway where it crosses the Merrimack River on the Sagamore Bridge

The Circumferential Highway has been planned since the 1950s,[2] as the need for such a road has been apparent for a long time. To date, however, only a short 2-mile (3.2 km) segment has been built. One of the major provisions of the plan for the highway is to provide a new crossing over the Merrimack River.[2] Currently there are four bridges over the Merrimack River between Lowell, Massachusetts and Manchester, New Hampshire. Drivers wishing to access U.S. Route 3 from the east side of the river have the following options (listed here from south to north):

• The Tyngsboro Bridge, which provides access to US 3 via Massachusetts Route 113.
• The Sagamore Bridge, connecting the Everett Turnpike (US 3) to New Hampshire Route 3A in Hudson, with an intermediate exit at the Daniel Webster Highway in the South Nashua retail district.
• The Taylor Falls/Veterans Memorial Bridges (a.k.a. The Hudson Bridge), which puts traffic through the city streets of Nashua, such as Hollis Street and Canal Street, streets which cross several train tracks, and which lack the capacity to handle the demand.
• Raymond Wieczorek Drive via the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge to the Manchester Airport (built in 2011). This provides a connection between NH Route 3A in the southern tip of Manchester, a few miles south of Interstate 293, and the Everett Turnpike in the southern corner of Bedford, with an interchange connecting the road with US 3.

The Circumferential Highway would provide an additional river crossing between Nashua and Manchester, where one does not exist. The Sagamore Bridge crossing south of downtown Nashua was expanded and forms the only portion of the Circumferential Highway that has been constructed.

The project has not been without controversy. Political and environmental roadblocks have caused delays for years. The highway would be built mostly through the town of Hudson, as well as small portions of Litchfield and Merrimack. This would require the seizure and destruction of many homes, and the filling in of several wetlands. A 1993 report by the EPA expressed an "intent to veto" the project as it was then planned, all but killing the full highway. Of particular concern is the impact on the Pennichuck Brook watershed, a series of ponds and creeks along the Nashua/Merrimack border. A second study has been ongoing since 1995, but no action has been made on it.[2][3]

Additionally, despite the population boom, there may no longer be the need for the entirety of the road as planned. The part of the highway that has been built, including the Sagamore Bridge rebuild, has bypassed the worst traffic problem, and allows easy access to U.S. 3 as well as the D.W. Highway shopping district. Widening of Route 3A in Hudson has alleviated a lot of the traffic problem as well. Travellers also have alternate routes, especially for longer distance north–south travel. Drivers heading north of Manchester or south of Lowell can take I-93 to the east. Also, US 3 in Nashua has been extensively rebuilt and widened, improving access and capacity.

Ten different alternatives have been proposed to the road.[2] A brief description of some of them:

• A "No Build" option, which leaves the entire situation at the current status quo.
• Alternatives to the northern crossing, planned in the vicinity of the Pennichuck Watershed, by choosing a less damaging crossing site. This could possibly include crossings that do not include connections to the Everett Turnpike.
• Rather than a four lane freeway, the road could be built as a "super-two" highway, with at-grade crossings, a lower speed limit, and limited driveway access.
• A southern crossing that may also include the removal of the Taylor Falls/Veterans Memorial bridges connecting Hudson and Nashua. This option may alleviate much of the traffic problems, but would also generate considerable social and economic stress.