At a minimum the Market Street Terminal
This three-year window is the perfect time for all stakeholders to come together to work out a plan for the future use of the Port of New Hampshire, or at a minimum the Market Street Terminal, after the bridge project is completed.
Stakeholders include the PDA’s Division of Ports and Harbors, the Port Advisory Council, tugboat pilots, environmental groups, the city of Portsmouth, the shipping industry, fishermen, recreational boaters, the port’s neighbors, and interested state and local citizens.
Don Coker, chairman of the advisory council, also notes that the Port belongs to all New Hampshire citizens.
“Because the Port is a state asset, it belongs to the people of Colebrook just as much as it belongs to the people of Seabrook or Portsmouth,” Coker said.
The Market Street Terminal is the only place in the state where rail, highway and water come together, Coker said. And if you add the airport at Pease to the mix, you’ve got an extremely valuable state asset.
While there seems to be general agreement that this valuable waterfront property should be a “working port,” this term is not specific and seems to mean different things to different people.
One thing we know for certain, using the waterfront for parking should definitely not be part of the long-term plan. Using it for parking short-term, while the city decides where to build a second lot is fine, but in the long term, this would be a horrible waste of a valuable asset.