City of Portsmouth, NH Maplewood Avenue Reconstruction

Portsmouth’s Maplewood neighborhood, situated northwest of downtown, is predominantly residential, featuring a variety of housing types, including single-family and multi-family residences. Maplewood Avenue, a key thoroughfare in the area, sees heavy traffic. Despite this, the neighborhood maintains a strong sense of community. Residents enjoy the convenience of being close to downtown Portsmouth’s amenities and historic charm.

The Maplewood neighborhood underwent significant utility upgrades, including the replacement of water lines, sewer mains, and drainage improvements. The project aimed to enhance the neighborhood’s character by incorporating complete streets principles, introducing new sidewalks, dedicated bicycle lanes, and traffic calming features such as raised intersections. Covering approximately 2 miles of residential roads, including Maplewood Avenue and surrounding streets, the $8.6 million reconstruction project was guided by a thorough public engagement process. This process involved understanding neighborhood concerns, gaining stakeholder trust, designing improvements that aligned with both civic and community needs, and effectively communicating the intended changes.

GPI was responsible for both preliminary and final engineering design for the project, which involved various roadway improvements. These enhancements encompassed minor widening, curb installation and relocation, drainage upgrades, stormwater BMPs, reconstructed and new sidewalks, pavement reclamation, curb extensions, intersection realignment, and traffic calming measures. Additionally, GPI conducted field surveys, a drainage and sewer inventory, right-of-way research, and developed plans for permanent and temporary easements throughout the design process. During construction, GPI provided inspection services with a resident engineer and multiple inspectors. The project was successfully completed in 2021. In recognition, GPI received a gold Engineering Excellence Award from ACEC-NH in 2022.

Project Highlights

  • Owner/Client
    City of Portsmouth, NH
  • Location
    Portsmouth, NH
  • Services
    Construction Engineering
    Construction Inspection
    Drainage Design
    Roadway Engineering
    Traffic/Transportation Engineering
Ranked #25 in the Top Transportation Firms by Engineering News Record Magazine

Ranked #25 in the Top Transportation Firms by Engineering News Record Magazine

The ENR (Engineering News-Record) Top 100 Professional Services Firms is an annual ranking of the top firms in the professional services sector that provide design services for transportation-related projects such as highways, bridges, airports, railways, and transit systems.