The bill under consideration mandates that any city, town, state department, or institution requesting road maintenance and repair assistance from the Department of Transportation must coordinate with the complete streets advisory committee to plan these repairs. The repairs must be planned and completed in accordance with the department's complete streets program, which adheres to the standards of the National Association of City Traffic Officials. This requirement is added to RSA 228:49 through the insertion of two new paragraphs (V and VI). The act is set to take effect 60 days after its passage.

The fiscal note attached to the bill indicates that the financial impact on the state and local governments is indeterminable at this time. The Department of Transportation has not yet adopted a complete streets program or established unit costs for the improvements that may be requested under this bill. Additionally, the complete streets advisory committee currently lacks the resources to review requests. The New Hampshire Municipal Association suggests that adopting complete streets standards could increase both capital and maintenance costs, such as the need to build additional infrastructure like pullouts and sidewalks, and to purchase land for rights-of-way. Maintenance costs could also rise due to the need for more maintenance crews. The bill does not specify a funding source for these potential additional costs.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 228:49