Everett Turnpike

The Frederick E. Everett Turnpike, also called the Central New Hampshire Turnpike, is a toll road in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, running 44 miles (71 km) from the Massachusetts border at Nashua north to Concord. The Everett Turnpike is named for Frederick Elwin Everett, the first Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.[2]

Everett Turnpike
Central New Hampshire Turnpike
Everett Turnpike highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NHDOT Bureau of Turnpikes
Length	39.867 mi[1] (64.160 km)
Existed	c. 1955–present
Major junctions
South end	US 3 in Tyngsborough, MA
	I-293 / NH 101 in Bedford I-93 in Hooksett I-89 in Bow
North end	I-93 / NH 9 in Concord
Location
Counties	Hillsborough, Merrimack
Highway system
New Hampshire Highway System Interstate U.S. State Turnpikes

The turnpike is part of the New Hampshire Turnpike System, and is operated by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation's Bureau of Turnpikes. There are two tolled sections, a southern one in Merrimack and Bedford and a northern tolled section in Hooksett; the remainder of the turnpike is toll-free. Each of the tolled segments cost a maximum of $1.00 for passenger cars passing through the mainline tollbooths, with lower rates charged on the ramp tolls for traveling shorter distances. A 30% discount is also offered for NH E-ZPass account holders only.

Route description

Much of the turnpike's length has been overlapped by other numbered routes. Portions of the road are shared with US-3, I-93, and I-293. The southern portion of the turnpike, in Nashua, is posted as US-3, serving as an extension of the US-3 freeway (Northwest Expressway) from Burlington, Massachusetts. North of Exit 7 in Nashua, the turnpike runs by itself and has no number, but parallels US-3, which is a toll-free local road variously known as Concord Street (within the city of Nashua) and the Daniel Webster Highway (within Merrimack and Bedford). Approaching Bedford in the Manchester area, the turnpike is joined by I-293 which splits off from a concurrency with NH-101. At Exit 4 (exits are numbered for I-293 on this stretch), NH-3A joins the freeway, and the concurrency passes through Manchester, near the downtown area of the city. Upon passing Manchester, Route 3A splits off at Exit 7, I-293's last northbound exit. The freeway passes into Hooksett, and I-293 ends at an interchange with I-93. The Everett Turnpike ceases to be signed at this interchange, but joins I-93 northbound and continues towards Concord, interchanging with the southern terminus of I-89 along the way. No definitive northern terminus for the turnpike exists as far as signage is concerned. This endpoint was originally at a traffic circle next to downtown Concord that has since been replaced by Exit 14 with NH-9.

There are two mainline toll plazas on the turnpike, in Bedford and Hooksett, that each charge $1.00 in cash. The Bedford mainline toll plaza, located between Exit 13 and I-293, replaced the Merrimack toll plaza (formerly located at what is now Exit 11) in the early 1990s. Ramp tolls also exist at Exit 10 in Merrimack and I-93 Exit 11 at the mainline toll plaza in Hooksett. E-ZPass readers were installed in all toll locations in 2005, and the state currently offers a 30% discount for using it. Major rest areas combined with state-run liquor stores are located on either side of the highway in Hooksett just north of the mainline toll plaza on I-93. On July 18, 2014, the Exit 12 ramp tolls in Merrimack were removed, and on January 1, 2020, the Merrimack Exit 11 ramp tolls were removed.[3]

The proposed (but mostly unbuilt) Circumferential Highway around the east side of Nashua is defined as part of the turnpike.[4] Henri A. Burque Highway, the surface road that US-3 uses to get between exit 7 of the turnpike and the Daniel Webster Highway in northern Nashua, is also part of it.[1]

Signage

Road sign showing access to the Everett Turnpike

The northern end of I-293 as viewed from I-93 northbound. The Everett Turnpike joins I-93 North at this interchange, but no sign indicates this.

Shields for the Everett Turnpike consist of a rectangle with a rounded bottom, a green circle, and green text that says "Everett Turnpike" above the circle, with the word "Turnpike" curved along the top edge of the circle; this signage is similar in design to that for other New Hampshire turnpikes. For the US 3 segment in Nashua, there is an Everett Turnpike sign in Massachusetts just south of the border northbound alongside the US 3 shield on an overhead sign, and several others along overhead signs through Nashua. Mile markers also contain the Everett Turnpike shield in Nashua, and combined US 3 and Everett Turnpike shields are posted along the side of the road on stand-alone posts, though most on-ramp signage only indicates US 3.

Signs for the turnpike are most prominent on the Merrimack-Bedford segment which lacks any concurrent US or Interstate route. Along this section, the Everett Turnpike shield appears on on-ramp direction signs, along the side of the highway on signposts, and on overhead reassurance signs.

Along the I-293 segment in Manchester, signage is similar to the Nashua US 3 section, though mile markers have the I-293 shield instead of the Everett Turnpike shield.

Though the Turnpike continues north to Concord, it is not signed north of the I-293 merge in Hooksett. On I-93 North, the exit for I-293 is signed as I-293/Everett Turnpike South, while the mainline is signed as "I-93 North (a toll road)". On I-293 North, Everett Turnpike signs stop at the merge, with I-93 North signed by itself. There is no indication of the northern terminus on I-93 in either direction. Southbound, the first emergence of Turnpike signage is after the exit onto I-293. The sole mention of the Everett Turnpike north of the I-293 merge is on New Hampshire Route 3A at the intersection with Hackett Hill Road leading to exit 11 in Hooksett. A sign with the Turnpike and I-93 shields notes the highway as leading north to Concord and south to Manchester. North of Exit 11, there are no Turnpike signs on intersecting highways, including I-89.

There are Turnpike mile markers only from the Massachusetts state line to the interchange with I-293 and Route 101. North of there, the mile markers and sequential exit numbers relate to the concurrent Interstate highways.

History

Prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks, exit 4 in Nashua was signed as "East Dunstable Road / FAA Center." The "FAA Center" signage was removed at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Exit list

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Old exit [5][6][4][7][8]	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Hillsborough	Nashua	0.00	0.00			US 3 south / Northwest Expressway	Continuation into Massachusetts
		0.50	0.80		1	Spit Brook Road – South Nashua
		1.49	2.40		2	To NH 3A / Daniel Webster Highway – Hudson	Circumferential Highway; signed as exit 1A from northbound collector–distributor lane
		2.59	4.17	1	3	Daniel Webster Highway – South Nashua	Southbound left exit and northbound entrance only; originally exit 1
		3.18	5.12		4	East Dunstable Road
		4.69	7.55	2	5	NH 111 to NH 111A – Nashua, Hudson, Pepperell, MA	Signed as exits 5E (east) and 5W (west); originally exit 2
		5.13	8.26	5E-A	5A	Simon Street	Northbound exit only, formerly signed as Exit 5E-A
		6.22	10.01		6	NH 130 (Broad Street) – Hollis
		6.74	10.85		7	US 3 north / NH 101A – Nashua, Downtown, Amherst, Milford	Northern end of US 3 concurrency; signed as exits 7E (east) and 7W (west)
		7.66	12.33	7W	8	To NH 101A west – Amherst, Milford	Locally known as Somerset Parkway
	Merrimack	9.83	15.82		10	To US 3 / Industrial Drive	Toll barriers on northbound exit and southbound entrance ramps
		11.10	17.86	8	11	To US 3 – Merrimack	No longer tolled.
		14.94	24.04		12	To US 3 / Bedford Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance only. No longer tolled.
	Bedford				13	Raymond Wieczorek Drive – Manchester–Boston Regional Airport	Interchange opened to public on November 10, 2011 To US 3 / NH 3A – South River Road – Litchfield
				Bedford toll plaza
		19.39	31.21	10	—	I-293 south / NH 101 to US 3 / NH 114 – Portsmouth, Exeter, Bedford, Milford	Southern end of I-293 concurrency; exit numbers follow I-293; originally exit 5
	Manchester	21.22	34.15	6	4	US 3 (Second Street, Queen City Avenue) / NH 3A south / NH 114A – Manchester	Southern end of NH 3A concurrency
		21.96	35.34		5	Granite Street – West Manchester
		23.27	37.45	7	6	Amoskeag Street, Goffstown Road	Originally exit 7
		24.25	39.03		7	NH 3A north – Hooksett	Northbound exit and southbound entrance only; northern end of NH 3A concurrency
Merrimack	Hooksett	27.18	43.74		—	I-93 south / I-293 ends – Salem, Boston	Northern end of I-293 concurrency, southern end of I-93 concurrency; exit numbers follow I-93
				Hooksett toll plaza
		29.52	47.51	8	11	To NH 3A – Hooksett	Toll barrier between interchange and NH 3A; originally exit 8
	Bow	36.24	58.32		—	I-89 north – Lebanon, White River Junction, VT	Originally exit 9
	Concord	36.91	59.40		12	NH 3A (S. Main Street) – Bow Junction	Signed as exits 12N (north) and 12S (south)
		38.08	61.28		13	US 3 (Manchester Street) – Downtown
		39.20	63.09		14	NH 9 (Loudon Road) – State Offices
						I-93 north – Plymouth	Everett Turnpike ends; continuation past NH 9
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Tolled

See also

• New Hampshire Highway System

References

1. GRANIT Archived August 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine GIS data - NH Public Roads
2. Brown, Janice A. (August 23, 2006). "New Hampshire's Turnpike History". Cow Hampshire. BlogHarbor. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
3. Cronin, Mike (December 31, 2019). "NH won't charge toll at Exit 11 of Everett Turnpike starting Wednesday". WMUR. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
4. New Hampshire Statutes Title XX Chapter 237
5. 1968 Indiana Toll Road map (has exits 3-10 from Nashua to Milford, then present exits 11-13 from Hooksett to Concord)
6. 1985 USGS topo
7. 1985 USGS topo
8. 1957 USGS Suncook quadrangle

External links

• Everett Turnpike on Flickr
• F.E. Everett Turnpike: Historic Overview on bostonroads.com