Portsmouth Herald (N.H.) Wednesday, October 14, 1998

Group nears its goal
Bike bridge only needs $18K more

By Christine Gillette
Staff Writer

PORTSMOUTH The bicycle bridge that will link Portsmouth with points to the north is a step closer to becoming a reality.

Todd Elsworth, a member of Seacoast Area Bike Routes, the grassroots group behind the $800,000 bridge project, said yesterday that the organization is less than $20,000 from its funding goal.

"The bridge is going to be built; it is going to happen," Elsworth said. "It really is a great way to open up Pease with all the development."

The bridge will span the Spaulding Turnpike from Rockingham Avenue in Portsmouth to Ashland Road at Pease International Tradeport. It will be the centerpiece of the Seacoast/Great Bay Bicycle Transportation Network of bicycle paths around the region, which SABR is also working on.

SABR contends the bridge will provide a safer means of reaching Pease, which links Portsmouth with many bike paths to the north, than biking down Gosling Road, which is often congested with vehicle traffic that creates a hazard.

Elsworth said that thanks to a donation from the town of Newington, which the selectmen will present to SABR on Monday, the group needs to raise only $18,000 more to pay for the project, known as the Rockingham Bicycle/ Pedestrian Bridge.

The problem is that time is running out for fund raising. Elsworth said the state Department of Transportatioin is expected to go out for bids at the end of the month and all of the funding must be in place by that time.

With the Newington donation, which will go toward the bridge construction, Elsworth said the group has raised $782,000 from a variety of sources, including a federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act grant, which will pay 80 percent of the projectÕs cost. The remaining funding has come from the city of Portsmouth, the Pease Development Authority and donations to SABR.

The $18,000 left to be raised is the responsibility of SABR, according to Elsworth.

"We are looking for donations," he said.

Because the group is a registered nonprofit organization, all donations are tax-deductible.

Elsworth also said SABR wants local residents to attend Monday's Newington selectmen's meeting to show support for the bicycle bridge and the group's work to link bike paths throughout the Seacoast for commuters and pleasure riders.

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