PEMBROKE – Green Mountain Communications has announced the award of over $9 million dollar design build contract with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) to design and construct an intelligent transportation system (ITS) for the implementation of a part-time shoulder use (PTSU) system on the Interstate 95 (I-95) corridor bridge over the Piscataqua River between the States of New Hampshire and Maine.

This project was jointly initiated with the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority. The Design-Build Team includes, AECOM, Liddell Brothers, MobilityTech, and Green Mountain Communications. The PTSU system will allow vehicles to use the existing right shoulders of I-95 northbound and southbound as a travel lane during peak traffic periods to ease congestion and accommodate the peak travel demands. This will also improve corridor safety by reducing the probability, frequency, and severity of crashes.

In addition, the PTSU system will enhance the mobility for all travelers on the corridor by keeping highway through traffic on the I-95 corridor and discourage through traffic from diverting to the local street network.

Construction will start this spring and the PTSU lane project is expected to complete in the summer of 2023.

The PTSU system will operate along I-95 northbound between the Exit 5 interchange in Portsmouth, N.H. and the Exit 3 interchange in Kittery, Maine and along 1-95/Maine Turnpike southbound between the Exit 2 interchange in Kittery, Maine and the Exit 5 interchange in Portsmouth, N.H. The new PTSU system will utilize a new Antenna Support Structure, Electronic Overhead Lane Use Signs, Dynamic Message Signs, Motor Vehicle Detection Systems, CCTV’s and associated ITS field equipment to be installed along the N.H. and Maine I95 corridor. The ITS field equipment will monitor and communicate with the New England Compass Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) and the N.H. Transportation Management Center(TMC), the MTA Traffic Management and Communication Center (TMCC), and the MaineDOT TMC to allow the operators to control lane use.

Charles Blackman PE, NHDOT Project Manager, said, “We’re happy to be working with Green Mountain Communications and their team, and we are confident this project will be a successful one benefitting the traveling public.”

“Our design-build team is proud to have been selected to work on this project for NHDOT, MaineDOT and MTA,” states Victor Drouin, President of Green Mountain Communications. “We’re excited to be a part of helping to ease the peak travelling times on I-95.”

PORTSMOUTH — Arts In Reach, a nonprofit committed to empowering teenage girls and gender expansive youth, is proud to announce a $5,000 sponsorship from Kennebunk Savings Bank for 2022.

Kennebunk Savings Bank has invested in its community for over 27 years, contributing 10% of its annual earnings to local charitable organizations like Arts In Reach.

“Connecting with the people and organizations that strengthen our community is part of what we call our Community Promise,” comments Doug Smith, Community Relations Coordinator for Kennebunk Savings.

This sponsorship from Kennebunk Savings Bank funds 10 teens to participate in AIR programs and gives them access to transportation and supplies free of charge. This support offers teens opportunities to work alongside their peers and professional teaching artists to create visual, performing, and literary artworks.

Arts In Reach provides various artistic programs that help teens explore new ways to express themselves creatively and authentically while building confidence and making friends in a safe, inclusive environment.

“The arts provoke in us a full range of experiences and emotions, broadening our perspective beyond ourselves and generating hope,” says Debra Holloway, Executive Director of Arts In Reach. “Because of our partners like Kennebunk Savings, teens can engage in the arts and mentoring to explore who they are and want to become.”

For more information about Kennebunk Savings’ Community Promise, go to www.kennebunksavings.com. To learn more about Arts In Reach and its corporate sponsor program, visit www.artsinreach.org/donate.