Taken as a whole, the status of NH’s infrastructure is mediocre compared to the rest of the country. Across a variety of measures—transportation, schools, drinking water, waste water, communication, energy and information technology—NH ranks as a “middle of the pack” state. This is one of the potential cracks in NH’s status as one of the United States’ most livable places, as infrastructure is key to a smooth, functioning society.
Access to Broadband
Almost 100 percent of communities in NH have access to the Internet. However, simply having access is not enough. It is critical to have high-speed Internet (speeds in excess of 25 megabytes per second). In NH, slightly more than 75 percent of residents have access to high-speed broadband. This trails the New England average (83 percent), though it remains in line with national trends.
As with all things in NH, geography matters. According to the Federal Communications Commission, over 95 percent of residents in Hillsborough and Rockingham counties have access to high-speed Internet compared to 23 percent of residents in Belknap County.
Transportation
A community’s transportation infrastructure can be measured in different ways. For this discussion, we are looking at the percent of state road miles classified as unacceptably rough according to grading by the International Roughness Index, which includes interstates, other principal arterials, rural minor arterials, and roads in the National Highway System. The state of NH’s roads was a main topic of discussion last year when lawmakers passed a 4-cent gas tax increase, the first in over two decades.
Twenty-two percent of NH’s roads are classified as rough or unacceptable. Roads in the other Northern New England states are worse. In Maine, 25 percent of roads are in rough shape and that number grows to 35 percent in Vermont. States to the south, including Massachusetts (13 percent), have a much lower share of their roads in rough shape, making it easier to get around. And, again, geography matters. According to the Department of Transportation, roads in rural NH are more likely to be in rough shape.
Water Infrastructure
Much of our water infrastructure—including wastewater and drinking water systems—were constructed in the 1970s and 1980s as part of an influx of federal funds (and to a much smaller extent, state funds) to ensure access to clean water. Like other capital investments, these waste treatment systems have a life cycle and need to be either upgraded or replaced entirely.
In 2009, the American Society of Civil Engineers conducted a survey of state officials to identify 20-year capital investment needs for public and community drinking water, wastewater and storm water systems on a per capita basis. Twenty states had lower water infrastructure investment needs than NH, putting it just about in the middle of the country. Water infrastructure needs were approximately $1,555 per capita in NH compared to $1,072 in Vermont and $1,159 in Maine. Massachusetts, on the other hand, has significantly higher needs at $2,260 per capita.
And, in what should be a familiar refrain, geography matters. Per capita wastewater needs in rural northern communities are almost twice as high as those in southern NH. In Belknap County, for example, per capita wastewater needs (based on a 2008 Environment Protection Agency survey) were $1,633. Compare that to Rockingham, where the same survey turned up only $779 in per capita wastewater needs.
Looking Forward
It is no surprise infrastructure investment continues to be a primary public policy conversation. The state has many different tools at its disposal to support infrastructure development. The gas tax is used to fund the road infrastructure, the state has a revolving loan fund to support water infrastructure, and the state’s school building aid program has been used to upgrade schools and construct new ones.
When measured on a per-capita basis, infrastructure demands in the rural areas are high. This is a function of the fixed costs in investments that in rural areas are spread across a much smaller population. This creates a challenge for rural communities facing continued demographic change, including aging and a net decline in population.
New Hampshire never cracks the top 10 states in any of the infrastructure areas we looked at, meaning that if it wants to keep pace with the rest of the country, capital investments will be necessary.
Steve Norton is executive director of the NH Center for Public Policy Studies, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization in Concord. Norton can be reached at snorton@nhpolicy.org.
Current Issue - May 2024