New Hampshire Highway System - Overview

Overview

The state maintains 4,814 miles (7,747 km) of roads, of which 2,567 miles (4,131 km) are numbered routes and 1,465 miles (2,358 km) are unnumbered roadways making up the State's secondary roadway system. The state has 557 miles (896 km) of primary highways, which it defines as highways that "connect population centers, other NHS routes within the state, and other NHS routes in the surrounding states: Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts." The remaining 12,215 miles (19,658 km) of roads are maintained typically by the towns and cities traversed by these roads.

Highways assigned a number by the NHDOT are officially known as "New Hampshire Route X", often abbreviated "NH Route X" or simply "Route X".

Many minor state highways are not assigned numbers, only local names.

In March 2011, New Hampshire ranked amongst the top ten "Best" states in the American State Litter Scorecard, for overall effectiveness and quality of its public space cleanliness—-primarily roadway and adjacent litter--from state and related debris removal efforts.