Portsmouth City and state officials — along with a group of Pannaway Manor residents — gathered Aug. 14 to celebrate the completed installation of sound barrier walls and privacy fencing along Interstate 95.
A variety of neighborhood activists, as well as city, school and state officials, fought for at least 30 years to get state approval and funding for the project for relief from highway noise.
Mayor Deaglan McEachern acknowledged the sound barriers have “certainly” been “a long time coming.”
“This took a lot of effort, it took a lot of patience,” McEachern said, speaking in front of a section of the wall that helps shield Pannaway Manor from I-95.
“When I look at these sound walls … I’m just reminded what people can do if they organize and they’re able to push for something that’s going to benefit not just themselves, but the entire city,” he said.
NH officials tout project and Portsmouth residents
This project was prioritized during the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation (GACIT) hearings for the 2023-2032 Ten Year Plan in the fall of 2021.
Former Gov. Chris Sununu and the Executive Council, at its Sept. 25, 2024 meeting, authorized the New Hampshire Department of Transportation to enter into a contract with Northeast Earth Mechanics, LLC of Pittsfield for construction of the sound abatement walls and privacy fencing, according to Executive Councilor Janet Stevens.
“This is an $18 million investment in your community, your city, your residents,” Stevens said.
The project involved installing about 5,800 feet of sound walls along I-95 in Portsmouth and 1,000 feet of privacy fencing, she said.
“For over 30 years, Portsmouth residents have been patiently waiting for the funding and construction of these sound walls,” she said. She called the project “a team effort” and credited a variety of state and city officials.
“The city of Portsmouth was a great partner to work with, your city manager (Karen Conard) has been an absolute delight, your mayor, he was my quarterback,” Stevens said. “Most importantly, it’s all of you the residents who turn out. Your voices were heard, you were impactful.”
NHDOT Commissioner Dave Rodrigue also credited Portsmouth residents for “showing up and making very clear what their needs are. These sound walls, without all of your support and without Councilor Stevens leading the charge, would not be here today. This is an unprecedented investment in sound walls.”
He told the group of about 70 people who attended the event “you can hear us today and you can hear each other today because of the walls.”
Lister: 30 years of fighting pays off
Robert Lister, former Portsmouth mayor and schools superintendent, said the sound barriers and privacy fencing have already provided relief to residents of the Pannaway Manor and Rockingham Avenue city neighborhoods, along with students and teachers at New Franklin School.
“It does make a difference. It really does help,” Lister said during an interview before the start of the ceremony. “It doesn’t block out all the noise completely, but it does give people some solace to be able to have some quiet.”
Lister credited late state Rep. Laura Pantelakos, who he reached out to 30 years ago for help on the issue, as a resident.
Lister also worked to address the noise problems in his roles as superintendent and mayor.
He believes the completed project represents a strong partnership between state and city officials.
“I think this is a good example of nonpartisan projects, whether you want to be Republican or Democrat, it doesn’t matter,” Lister said. “Chris Sununu was very helpful with this. Janet Stevens was the one who put it through the governor’s council. A lot of people worked on this so it’s not a partisan issue, it’s for the benefit of the community.”
Sound walls don’t solve problem, some residents say
While the project was largely celebrated, some residents pointed out the limitations of the sound walls.
Worthen Road resident Craig Simmons lives right next to a section of the recently completed sound walls.
“It’s not helping,” he said as noise from the passing vehicles on I-95 could be clearly heard in the background.
“The big problem I have is every tree on that side of the fence got taken down, so I lost all my shade in the backyard and over the garage,” he said. “It doesn’t make a difference. You can still hear (the traffic). Everyone I talked to said they can hear it.”
Before the project began, state officials told residents and Portsmouth officials the walls would reduce the decibels significantly, but would not eliminate the noise.
Asked if there’s anything else state or city officials can do to address the issue, Simmons replied, “At this point I don’t see anything they can do. The highway noise never bothered me. The loss of the trees and the lack of the shade bothers me more.”
Longtime Pannaway Manor resident Bill St. Laurent said he still hears it when big trucks passing by the neighborhood “gear down” on the highway.
“We’ve got 12 lanes out there, where else do you have 12 lanes in the city or in the state of New Hampshire?” said St. Laurent, who lives a stone’s throw from the sound barrier.
“It’s constant, even at night,” he said. St. Laurent said he doesn’t believe the new sound barrier improved things “that much.”
“But if you back up a little bit on the manor here, people like it,” he said. “Years ago, we couldn’t hear each other talking like now.”
Mayor says acknowledges walls can’t block all noise
After Friday’s event, McEachern stated that despite the presence of the new sound walls, “you’re still going to hear some of it (I-95 traffic), but we’re having a conversation and we’re not yelling over it. I don’t think anybody expected this project to encapsulate and create a dome where no sound is going to get in.”
The mayor stated the completion of the project marked a “successful” collaboration between city and state officials.
“I think it’s a great thing … It’s a good reminder of what it takes to have a successful project,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald. Reporting by Jeff McMenemy, Portsmouth Herald.
