Hampton Beach cleanup: NH DOT says sidewalks, roads will be ready by Memorial Day

HAMPTON — State officials say Ocean Boulevard will be cleared of debris in time for the summer season, with sidewalks fixed by Memorial Day.

Brian Schutt, principal engineer at New Hampshire Department of Transportation’s District 6, said the state will be repairing sidewalks on the east side of Ocean Boulevard damaged by storms in January. He said debris, including rocks and sand, remains along the road that winds along the New Hampshire Seacoast.

“I feel pretty confident we’re going to get everything done that we want to before the summer hits,” Schutt said Tuesday.

The work is being done jointly by the state DOT and the NH Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the town. Responsibility for sidewalk maintenance has been a longstanding dispute between Hampton and the state. Authorities on both sides said they are working collaboratively this time to make sure the work gets done.

Hampton Selectman Chuck Rage said the town and state have collaborated in the past and worked well together in addressing cleanup ahead of summer.

"We've done this before, and we get a lot accomplished," Rage said.

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January storms bring flooding, damage to Ocean Boulevard

The Seacoast was hit with two storms in one week, Jan. 10 and 13, that brought powerful waves and significant flooding. It caused damaged infrastructure up and down Route 1A in towns like Rye and North Hampton. The sand was blown into the road, and sinkholes developed in places like the sidewalk along the North Beach Seawall.

Schutt said DOT work began Monday repairing sidewalks on the ocean side of Ocean Boulevard at North Beach. That part of the beach has had several orange cones marking where holes and crumbling concrete exist. He said sidewalks in other parts of the beach will also be repaired.

Aside from the sidewalks, he said there is mostly debris to clean up on the road and the sidewalk. That includes shale, or soft rock that has broken off due to erosion.

Part of the challenge, Schutt said, is the sand and debris on the road cannot be returned to the beach due to environmental regulations. He said they instead bring it to a pit away from the beach.

Schutt said he expects all the work to be completed by Memorial Day, including the damaged sidewalks. He said depending on how fast they work, it could be done next week.

The costs are yet to be determined, according to Schutt.

"We'll know better when it's done," Schutt said. "It's probably not going to be as much as what everybody might think."

Schutt said the storms that hit in January were comparable to one large one that occurred in March 2018. He said in his nine years of working for DOT, the storms have become more powerful and more frequent.

“Hopefully we don’t get any more storms,” Schutt said. “This is probably the worst I’ve seen.”

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Hampton, state partner for cleanup

In March, Hampton Town Manager Jamie Sullivan announced at a Selectboard meeting the town and state were planning to work together to clean up the storm damage and debris. He said the town and state were planning to put aside the age-old dispute over who is responsible for maintaining the sidewalks, just for this spring, given the level of cleanup needed.

Sullivan and Public Works Director Jennifer Hale could not be reached for comment on the town’s part in the cleanup, nor could a representative from the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Schutt said DOT is working with the town and DNCR to get the work done on the beach.

Sullivan said earlier this year, the town hoped to hold talks with DOT about establishing responsibilities together for maintaining the sidewalks. Rage said Sullivan spoke with DOT Commissioner William Cass last week and they will likely be briefed on the meeting next Monday.

Schutt said the joint work by the town and state on the storm cleanup this spring shows they can collaborate.

“It is a good sign that we were able to work together,” Schutt said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton Beach cleanup: Sidewalks, roads to be fixed by Memorial Day