Campbell calls for more highway money

Transportation Commissioner George Campbell makes the case for more money for his department in this morning's Union Leader, and takes a shot at Bartlett Center President Charles Arlinghaus's column from earlier this week:

Taking care of New Hampshire's highways and bridges is a serious matter. The safety of the traveling public and the utility of the system for travelers and businesses are at the foundation of New Hampshire's economy.

So when an ill-informed and misleading opinion by Union Leader columnist Charles Arlinghaus is published, it's my responsibility as commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT) to respond with the facts.

The most troubling assertion Arlinghaus made in Wednesday's column ("The governor's strange proposal to raise highway money") is that New Hampshire is not facing a transportation funding crisis. DOT's funding needs have been well documented and cannot be easily dismissed. I can assure you from dealing with it firsthand on a daily basis that we are confronting imminent and critical financial challenges of meeting both the operational needs of maintaining the system and the capital needs of improving it.