By Sen. Lawrence Bliss

District 7

Our roads, bridges and highways need work. You need not travel very far to come to that realization. In Maine, the weather plays a significant roll in the maintenance of our roads – our winters take a toll on their conditions and our repair season is shortened due to the inability to work on snow-covered roads. While many of Maine’s infrastructure is in dire need of repair, we are also very much financially limited by what we are able to accomplish. That is why it is a very good sign and a step in the right direction when a project is placed on the schedule for repair.

The state’s Department of Transportation has released its work plan for the next two years. This plan contains projects that Maine DOT will fund with resources projected to be available from July 1 to June 30, 2011. This plan does not include projects scheduled to be completed using federal stimulus money. The key aspect to the plan is the projects will be funded with money that is projected to be available. 

Transportation projects are funded through a combination of the Highway Fund and bonds, approved by voters. The bulk of the Highway Fund, roughly 65 percent, is derived from the gas tax, and is not a predictable, nor stable, source of revenue.  

Last summer, when gas prices soared, and people made the wise decision to cut back on travel and ultimately conserve fuel, the Highway Fund took a significant hit. It also becomes very difficult to predict the exact cost of each road project. For example, last year, a global competition for material translated into a 130 percent cost increase in asphalt and double digit annual inflation in the cost of other material.

At our current Highway Fund funding level, it would take roughly 80 years to meet all of the infrastructure repairs that are currently required – please keep in mind that this is assuming that no new repairs are required during that 80 year period...no bridge repairs, no resurfacing necessary, no frost heaves, no potholes, etc. The Highway Fund is not meeting our needs.

In essence, it is a great first step for a particular project to be included in the work plan, but while the chances look good for it to be done, it is certainly not a done deal. In our area, a significant amount of work is scheduled to be accomplished during the two year period.

Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Fore River and Portland Terminal Railroad on the Portland/South Portland city line will be replaced to the tune of $50 million. Nearly 12 miles of I-295 southbound through Falmouth, Portland, and South Portland will receive $6 million in repairs. $1.45 million is scheduled to go toward repairs on Broadway in South Portland. A signal at the intersection of Route 77, Scott Dyer Road and Shore Road in Cape Elizabeth will be installed for roughly $438,000. Route 1 in South Portland will receive partial repairs for $1.5 million. Also, the bridge deck on the Fore River Northbound Bridge on I-295 in South Portland will receive repairs of $1 million. In Scarborough, improvements will be made at the intersection of Route 1, Payne Road, Pine Point Road and Broad Turn Road totaling $263,000.

If the amount of funding estimated to support this work plan becomes available, Maine DOT will invest nearly $809.2 million in capital projects and an additional $61.4 million in multimodal transit operating costs. Nearly 57 percent of this funding is anticipated from federal resources. 

The state’s share, about 28 percent, assumes approval of the governor-proposed $127.8 million transportation related bond package of which $126 million is included in this work plan.