Press Releases/What’s New

*April 24, 2018 Update: The entire supply of compost bins is now gone.

As we approach Earth Day this Sunday, April 22nd, the City of Portsmouth continues to work to make food waste composting easier for residents.

Finishing the reconstruction of the railroad crossing on Green Street this week (reopening intermittently Monday, April 16th), the New Hampshire Department of Transportation’s contractor, Northeast Earth Mechanics, Inc., will begin reconstructing the railroad crossing on Barberry Lane this Monday, April 16th. The roadway at the track crossing will be closed during the construction activity, detour routes will be established.

Portions of Bridge Street, spanning Hill Street and Deer Street as well as the intersection of Deer and Bridge Streets, have been closed since December in order to complete sewer and utility work associated with the construction of the Foundry Place parking garage.

The City plans to continue to authorize Saturday and/or Sunday construction work to take place on the Peirce Island Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrade.  This is a continuation of weekend work that was authorized throughout the winter depending on the weather. The scheduling of weekend construction work will be determined weekly based on work sequencing, the weather and public events.

Paving throughout the Elwyn Park neighborhood will begin this month. A public meeting to review paving and sidewalk plans for this area will be held at the Department of Public Works on Tuesday, April 10th at 6:30 p.m.

Minor impacts are expected during this work which will take about a month to complete. For full details on the scope of this project (shown below), please visit the Pavement Maintenance projects on our construction map.

Construction activity at the Chestnut Street block, which includes The Music Hall, will resume on Monday, April 9th. Currently, preparation work such as roof drain downspout connections, subsurface brick work on the sewer manholes and some brick work restoration is taking place.

Heavier construction for this project will include the installation of the new streetscape components including seat walls, site lighting, installation of granite banding at crosswalks, and decorative pavement.

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation’s contractor, Northeast Earth Mechanics, Inc., will be reconstructing the railroad crossing on Green Street beginning on April 2nd. The roadway at the track crossing will be closed during the construction activity, detour routes will be established.

The Portsmouth Department of Public Works will be hosting a public meeting to discuss the last phase of the McDonough Street Neighborhood Area project on Wednesday, March 28th beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Conference Room A in City Hall, 1 Junkins Ave.

On Wednesday evening, March 28th, between the hours of 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., the Portsmouth Water Department will be shutting off the water main on Green Street. The purpose of this shut down is to allow crews to install a new valve, and cut and cap the main on both sides of the railroad tracks for the NH DOT replacement of the tracks at the road crossing.

When the water mains are turned back on, those within that area may experience some air or discoloration. Please run your COLD water for a few minutes and it should clear; there is no danger associated with this color.