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NH wants to install median guardrails on I-95 after fatal accidents

Next year, median guardrails will be added to portions of Interstate 95 in New Hampshire, a move announced after three recent crashes resulted in a total of three deaths and serious injuries. All of them involved vehicles moving from one side of the road to the other.

State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Lane said the agency will develop a plan to install median guardrails on “the most critical sections” of I-95. Construction will begin in summer 2025.

Arlen Brown, 68, of Sabattus, Maine, died Oct. 30 after crossing the highway median and striking another vehicle in Portsmouth. The other driver, a 25-year-old woman from Berwick, Maine, was hospitalized with serious but non-medical conditions. life-threatening injuries, police said. According to New Hampshire State Police, it was the fifth fatality along I-95 in New Hampshire this year and the third in two weeks.

More: A crash on I-95 in Portsmouth claims one fatality, the latest fatality after the vehicle crossed the median

Fourteen people have died in crashes on I-95 in the state since 2018. As of Monday, Oct. 28, there have been 1,707 non-fatal crashes on the highway this year alone, according to state police data.

“Because impairment, distraction and speeding play a role in many serious crashes in New Hampshire, we remind everyone to stay alert and make safe decisions while driving,” Lane said.

NH DOT begins marking ahead of 2025 barrier project

In the coming weeks, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation will install additional reflective roadside markers between Exit 2 and Exit 3 on I-95, focusing on the area where recent accidents occurred.

The state agency “reminds motorists to slow down, stay alert and drive sober,” Lane added.

Wednesday's fatal crash was preceded exactly two weeks earlier by another fatal incident on Interstate 95.

On October 16, two people were killed and a third person was hospitalized after a crash in Greenland involving a northbound driver, later identified as 24-year-old Steve Le of Methuen, Massachusetts. was identified, lost control and drove across the median into oncoming traffic, came into traffic and crashed into a car. Le died in the crash, as did the southbound driver, 58-year-old Leslie Lynn of Roanoke, Virginia, while a person in Lynn's car was taken to the hospital.

In an Oct. 23 crash on I-95 in Greenland, two people were seriously injured when a northbound vehicle crossed the median and struck a southbound car.

In late February, a California woman was identified as the victim of a crash on I-95 near the Portsmouth-Greenland line. According to state police, there was also a fatal accident on I-95 in Hampton in late May.

The 2012 NH DOT study found no barriers at this time

A 2012 study by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation on I-95 and other highways in the Granite State examined whether median barriers should be installed.

At that point, the department decided that I-95 did not need median barriers. However, the final study found that the Seacoast region had one of the highest motorist accident rates in all of New Hampshire.

The 2012 final report said the Department of Transportation completed the study of possible road improvements “to help eliminate the risk of 'intersection crashes' on divided highways with median widths of 30 to 50 feet.”

I-95 Barrier Advocate Calls Deaths 'Heartbreaking' and 'Preventable'

Former state representative and career public health official Rich DiPentima, a Portsmouth resident, has previously advocated for the installation of median barriers on I-95 in New Hampshire.

DiPentima was driving into Massachusetts on I-95 on Friday. He said he observed Massachusetts installing median barriers on the highway to prevent cars from ending up on the opposite side of the highway.

The lack of median guardrails on I-95 in New Hampshire is currently “heartbreaking” and the ongoing tragedies on the highway are “preventable,” DiPentima said.

“This is all very good news. I’m happy to hear that,” he said of the Department of Transportation’s commitment to installing a guardrail. “Unfortunately it will not help the families who have lost their loved ones. It will help prevent future loss of life.”

More than 100 fatal crashes in New Hampshire so far in 2024

According to New Hampshire State Police, there were 103 fatal car accidents on the state's major roads in the year ending Sunday, Oct. 27. This does not include the October 30 death on I-95 and another fatal accident in Winchester on October 27 29. A total of 114 people died in the 103 fatal accidents through October 27.

A total of 127 people died in car crashes on major roadways in New Hampshire in 2023, compared to 146 deaths in each major traffic accident in 2022.

New Hampshire is the only state in the United States that does not require adults to wear seat belts in the front seat of vehicles. Children are legally required to wear these. Adult motorcyclists are not required to wear helmets in New Hampshire.

Teen driving deaths increase 400% in New Hampshire: What the police are doing about it

In July 2015, the state's “hands-free” law was enacted, banning all drivers from using their cell phone or other portable electronic device while driving.

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