The New Hampshire Highway System is the public roads system of the U.S. state of New Hampshire containing approximately 17,029 miles (27,406 km) maintained by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. All public roads in the state are called "highways", thus there is no technical distinction between a "road" or a "highway" in New Hampshire.
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The state maintains 4,814 miles (7,747 km) of roads, of which 2,567 miles (4,131 km) are numbered routes and 1,465 miles (2,358 km) are unnumbered roadways making up the State's secondary roadway system. The state has 557 miles (896 km) of primary highways, which it defines as highways that "connect population centers, other NHS routes within the state, and other NHS routes in the surrounding states: Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts." The remaining 12,215 miles (19,658 km) of roads are maintained typically by the towns and cities traversed by these roads.
Highways assigned a number by the NHDOT are officially known as "New Hampshire Route X", often abbreviated "NH Route X" or simply "Route X".
Many minor state highways are not assigned numbers, only local names.
In March 2011, New Hampshire ranked amongst the top ten "Best" states in the American State Litter Scorecard, for overall effectiveness and quality of its public space cleanliness—-primarily roadway and adjacent litter--from state and related debris removal efforts. [1]
A total of 224.2 miles (360.8 km) of roadway in New Hampshire are part of the Interstate Highway system.
The NHDOT Bureau of Turnpikes is responsible for maintenance of the public toll roads in New Hampshire:
782 miles (1,259 km) of state-maintained roads are a part of the National Highway System (NHS). Of the NHS roads in the state, 225 miles (362 km) are Interstate highways (35 miles of which are also on the New Hampshire Turnpike System; 52 miles (84 km) of non-interstate turnpike highways; and 505 miles (813 km) of non-interstate and non-turnpike highways.
New Hampshire RSA 229:5 Classification. sets out the seven different classes of highways in the state:
Under RSA 229:5, V. the Commissioner of Transportation may establish compact sections in the following cities and towns:
Two New Hampshire state routes actually cross state lines while retaining their designations:
In addition, Maine State Route 113 crosses in and out of New Hampshire along two short stretches. It remains under MaineDOT maintenance along these stretches.
State highways in New Hampshire are marked using square route shields depicting the Old Man of the Mountain. Unlike its neighboring states, New Hampshire does not use elongated shields for route markers, but uses condensed fonts for three-digit routes instead. Alternates of two- and three- digit routes (e.g. Route 113B) are signed with the parent highway's number over the letter of the alternate. New Hampshire also has one 'bypass' state route, Route 28 Bypass, which is marked with a standard Route 28 shield, except with the word 'BYPASS' over the numeral. Route 101 has its own business route, and its alternate, Route 101A, has its own bypass, but these routes are very poorly signed, if only on guide signs.
New Hampshire uses the standard issue U.S. Route shield, a six-point white shield over a black square background. New Hampshire does not use elongated route shields for U.S Routes, except on the occasional guide sign from a freeway. Alternates of U.S. Routes in New Hampshire are signed as state routes, with two exceptions: U.S. Route 1 Bypass and U.S. Route 3 Business. US-1 Bypass is signed in a similar fashion to Route 28 Bypass, a standard US-1 shield with the word 'BY-PASS' over the numeral. US-3 Business is unsigned, as it is completely overlapped by other routes.
New Hampshire uses standard size Interstate shields for its two-digit Interstate highways. Elongated shields were not initially used for auxiliary Interstates, but such shields are appearing on newer signage. New Hampshire no longer uses its state name on Interstate shields, but older signs with the state name are still prevalent.
New Hampshire has an unusual way of signing route concurrencies. Rather than separate shield assemblies for each route, concurrencies are signed on green signs, similar to those found on freeway guide signs. These signs are also used for signing junctions with other routes, regardless of whether there is a concurrency. These particular sign assemblies are, however, lacking in cities.
Several unnumbered roads also are maintained by the state, including:
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