April 2, 2013
During the 2013 legislative session, state lawmakers intensely debated whether to raise New Hampshire’s gas tax. The current rate hasn’t gone up in nearly 20 years. During the debate, the commissioner of the state’s Department of Transportation repeatedly pointed toward a backlog of more than a billion dollars in maintenance projects and 1600 miles of roads that need to be rebuilt. But New Hampshire is a state historically opposed to raising taxes and lawmakers ultimately decided not to pass a higher rate.
As a backdrop to the legislature’s gas tax debate, NHPR decided to take a closer look at the state of New Hampshire roads. We wanted to find out if they truly are getting worse, why they’re getting harder to pay for and whether it really matters if we have a few more potholes. We put together an animated video to try to answer those questions.
http://youtu.be/ixdVjgqAdiw