These days anyone in New Hampshire who drives to Tripoli Pizza in Seabrook for their cannoli encounters a big construction project on Route 1A. The 75-year-old Neil R. Underwood Memorial Bridge crossing the inlet of Hampton Harbor to Seabrook is being replaced. Because of various complexities and inflation the $107.5 million price tag for the new bridge is 40 percent higher than expected.
Governor Sununu and the Executive Council approved the $107 million contract last Spring, understanding the project design anticipates four feet of sea level rise.
Planning and designing a bridge for climate change is a good thing; the question for our elected officials is, Why Stop There? Sea level rise won’t stop at the bridge. Businesses, schools, homes and local roads face the same risks (and at 4 feet there won’t be any). Local officials in Seabrook are struggling to increase the resilience of their wastewater treatment plant because of higher tides and more frequent storm surge. The tide regularly reaches beyond the chain link perimeter gate; salt water is eroding the metal posts.
By approving the Hampton Harbor bridge contract and knowing the design accounted for four feet of sea level rise , Governor Sununu and Council created a moral hazard, because while they acknowledged the risk of sea level rise to a new bridge, they ignore the risks elsewhere in New Hampshire…