AASHTO Journal, 1 November 2013
Next Tuesday, voters in Maine will choose whether or not to allow a $100 million bond for highway and bridge rehabilitation and reconstruction. Just this week, national transportation nonprofit TRIP released a report identifying the state’s 50 biggest transportation challenges, namely those highway and bridge projects that would benefit from the bond in question.
Maine’s Question 3 on Tuesday’s ballot would supply $76 million to those highway and bridge improvements while $24 million would be geared toward ports, rail (both freight and passenger), and air projects.
“We need this investment to keep our transportation system together,” wrote State Legislators Ken Theriault and Archie Verow in an opinion piece in the Bangor Daily News earlier this week. “The transportation bond is good for Mainers from Madawaska to Kittery. Infrastructure is a major building block to a strong economy and maintaining our transportation network is necessary for our safety, jobs and economic success.”
If passed, the bond for the Maine Department of Transportation would then be matched with about $145 million from federal funds and other sources.
The TRIP report released Thursday identifies 12 sections of major roads or highways that need major repairs or reconstruction, 19 bridges with “significant deficiencies and need to be rebuilt or reconstructed,” a marine terminal expansion, and 18 sections of Maine’s transportation system that need to be addressed for safety, congestion relief, or increased access purposes.
“Transportation is truly the backbone of Maine’s economy,” said Dana Connors, president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and chair of the Keep Maine Moving Coalition (supporter of Maine’s Question 3) in a statement. “Question 3 would provide over $250 million for all modes of transportation, including matching funds. It is critical to moving Maine forward, and we hope Maine voters will support the transportation bond.”
TRIP’s 24-page report, “Maine’s Top 50 Transportation Challenges and the Improvements Needed to Address Them,” is available here.