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Some Facts About New Hampshire’s Infrastructure:New Hampshire has approximately 17,000 miles of state and town roads, turnpikes and interstate highways. There are 3,795 bridges in the state. As of 2010, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation plowed more than 800 lane miles of roads and put down 180,000 tons of salt for snow and ice control annually.The state was given a “C” grade by the American Society of Civil Engineers for the condition of its roads and bridges. New Hampshire was rated among the worst in the country for the poor condition of its bridges by Transportation For America. On average, bridges are older in New Hampshire than those in the rest of the country. There are hundreds of bridges on the so-called “red list,” which means that the bridges have major structural problems and need to be repaired or replaced.The state also has a poor record when it comes to public transportation. New Hampshire has no comprehensive rail system and is rated 42nd in terms of investment in public transportation according to the State Department of Transportation.The majority of New Hampshire’s infrastructure funding comes from vehicle registration fees and gas taxes. The state takes out fewer bond loans than other states and considers its funding a “pay as you go” system. The gas tax, the lowest in New England, has not been raised since 1991. The 2011 Legislature did away with a motor vehicle fee increase. That change has meant more $30 million a year in cuts to DOT.The $800 million expansion of I-93 from Salem to Manchester began in 2006, but has been delayed several times because of a lack of funding. Supporters of the expansion say it will update one of the country’s most congested highways and bring needed tourism revenue to the more isolated and less economically robust northern part of the state. Traffic on I-93 has increased 600 percent since the highway was built in the 1960s and approximately 80,000 cars now drive on it each day.Summary provided by StateImpact NH

With New Rule, N.H. DMV Lifts Temporary Ban On New Vanity Plates

New Hampshire drivers can once again get new vanity plates, now that the state's Division of Motor Vehicles has put into place a new rule guiding which plates it will reject.

The state had put a temporary halt on issuing vanity plates, following a state Supreme Court ruling in May found the DMV’s old rule barring plates that may be offensive was too vague.

The new rule is more specific.

For example, the state will now reject vanity plates that contain profanity, references to violence, or illegal activity.

DMV spokesman Michael Todd says officials will now go through the roughly 2,000 vanity plate applications that came in over the past few weeks.

“Individuals who have applications in will now be able to take their application – I’m sorry, their acceptance letter – their old license plate to the local DMV substation and turn those things in and begin the process to receive a vanity plate.”

He says the DMV hopes to get through the backlog in the next 60 days.

Vanity plates that had been previously approved will be subject to the DMV’s new rule.

Michael serves as NHPR's Program Director. Michael came to NHPR in 2012, working as the station's newscast producer/reporter. In 2015, he took on the role of Morning Edition producer. Michael worked for eight years at The Telegraph of Nashua, covering education and working as the metro editor.
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