Press Releases/What’s New

Due to current storm forecasts of extreme tidal and weather conditions for March 2nd, City staff advises residents to be mindful of anticipated flood conditions and potential road closures. Crews will be posting barricades in high-risk areas to limit travel routes to local traffic only as the storm builds. High tides are expected at midnight tonight, 12:30 p.m. Friday and 1:00 a.m. Saturday. It is highly recommended for residents to plan accordingly in advance of this storm, and to:

To better keep residents apprised of occurrences of combined sewer overflows (CSOs), the Portsmouth Sewer Division has introduced a Twitter feed, @PortsmouthCSOs, which will alert the community of overflows in real time.

The City of Portsmouth’s McIntyre Steering Committee has met and established dates for “Stage 2” steps in the public input process for the future of the McIntyre site. This includes three sessions with the public that will be sponsored by the McIntyre Steering Committee. 

On Thursday, February 22nd at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, the Historic District Commission will be hosting a presentation from the Planning Department to share with the community details of work that has been undertaken to assess the potential risks and impacts from sea level rise and/or coastal flooding on the landscapes, buildings, and structures within Portsmouth’s Historic District.

Update 02/22/18 : Video of meeting now available

Portions of Bridge Street, originally scheduled to reopen in January, will continue be closed in order to complete sewer and utility work associated with the construction of the Foundry Place parking garage. This area spans Hill Street and Deer Street, with closures on the intersection of Deer and Bridge Streets, and the end of Hill Street heading into Bridge Street.

The City of Portsmouth’s McIntyre Steering Committee has met and established the initial “Stage 1” steps in the public input process for the future of the McIntyre Federal Building site. Two Informational and Idea Gathering Sessions with the public will be sponsored by the McIntyre Steering Committee. The first will be held on Saturday, February 3rd from 9:00 a.m. to noon in City Council Chambers at Portsmouth City Hall, and include dialogue sessions in coordination with Portsmouth Listens. The second will be held on Thursday, February 8th from 6:30 p.m.

As anticipated, the City has authorized work on the Peirce Island Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrade to take place on periodic Saturdays and/or Sundays as weather permits during the winter season. The work will be limited to activities and equipment that do not generate excessive amounts of noise. No large construction vehicle traffic will be generated by this work.

The Stark Street Bridge will be closed to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic beginning on Monday, January 29th. The bridge will be completely replaced and will not be reopen until Columbus Day. Temporary lane closures on the Route 1 Bypass will be permitted during working operations. Additionally, brief complete traffic shut downs will be allowed on the Bypass between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The City of Portsmouth is seeking public input on proposed design alternatives for the Maplewood Avenue Downtown Complete Streets Project. The scope of this project is to develop a “complete street” design for Maplewood Avenue between Congress Street and Raynes Avenue. This project is identified as a high priority project in the City’s 2014 Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan and the goals are to enhance the comfort, appeal and safety for all travelers along this approximately ½ mile corridor.