If you have driven through Londonderry, Windham or Salem over the past several years, you may have experienced what I have experienced many times: the removal of mature trees, the destruction of wildflowers, the breaking up and pulverizing of granite, the takedown of perfectly good bridges and overpasses, the lessening of natural groundwater areas, and other harm to the natural beauty that is New Hampshire.

The proponents say that Interstate 93 needs more lanes. They say it will significantly improve New Hampshire tax revenues, tourism or retail sales. All estimates of these increases are just that, estimates no matter the source, and future events, good or bad, are nearly impossible to forecast.

They say it will create local jobs, though they will be temporary. How much of the payroll going from hand to hand will go to New Hampshire taxes or revenue, rents or sales of any type? It’s 85 percent federal money. Isn’t that some of the money you pay when you buy gasoline for your vehicle? Doesn’t some of that same gasoline money go to the State of New Hampshire for road maintenance? And doesn’t some of your vehicle registration money go to road maintenance? And how are toll road fees spent?

What is the problem people see with the old I-93? They say it is slow and crowded and has safety issues. Having driven the road for years, in so-called peak and non-peak hours, I don’t buy the criticism.

Accidents and other vehicle-related events create the backups and slowdowns. The injured need help, but the other hundreds and perhaps thousands of travelers using the same section of road, at the same time, should not suffer unnecessary loss of road use as a consequence.

The responding agencies — police, fire, safety, rescue and towing — have a responsibility to collectively determine more efficient ways to facilitate the movement of traffic in the proximity of accidents so that the need for bigger and bigger highways is diminished. The parties involved in the traffic issues of the Loudon speedway showed how creative, cooperative problem solving can win out over throwing huge sums of money at a problem, and that is the New Hampshire Way.

I look around New Hampshire, via the Union Leader mostly, and this is what I see: cities, towns and individuals struggling to pay bills and expenses, reduced governmental services at every level, fewer and fewer pass-through federal funds, and deteriorating infrastructure. With all the critical needs of the state — the unemployed, the handicapped, the homeless, veterans past and present, the blind, children, seniors, naming a few — it is hard to understand how anyone is so willing to put the state into such large, long-term debt of perhaps $155 million or more. This project as proposed could diminish the quality of life for many, many New Hampshire citizens, now and into the future.

I have been particularly pleased with the performance of John Lynch as our governor and like many of you would have been happy to see him seek another term; however with the widening of I-93 advancing, I am disappointed that this is happening during his tenure.

Ray Rondeau lives in Manchester.