Baldacci unveils $622M state transportation plan Bridge, highway improvements top priorities

AUGUSTA – An ambitious $622 million state transportation plan outlined Monday by the Baldacci administration is heavily dependent upon bonds and legislation that awaits action by Maine lawmakers.

“We’re talking about hundreds of projects and thousands of jobs,” Gov. John E. Baldacci said in unveiling the plan, which he said would provide significant improvements “in all modes of Maine’s transportation infrastructure over the next two years.”

In an afternoon meeting with reporters, Baldacci said funding would come from a variety of sources:

. $409 million in federal matching funds;

. $113 million from the yet-to-be-approved state Highway Fund bill;

. $75 million from a yet-to-be-approved November state transportation bond;

. $24 million in local contributions from municipal or county resources; and,

. $1 million provided by the recently enacted state budget.

Under the plan, about $483 million would be dedicated to bridge and highway improvements that the administration said would generate at least 10,000 jobs over the two-year budget cycle that begins July 1, 2003. Another about $120 million would be directed toward improvements in rail, airport, and ferry service and bicycle or pedestrian trail access. Further upgrades in the state’s public-private partnership with private industry would be achieved with about $18.5 million in freight improvements to highway, rail and port infrastructure.

The $213 million in highway funds, bonds and local contributions would leverage about $409 million in federal funds, Baldacci said. The proposed $75 million state bond slated to go before voters in November represents an 18 percent increase over the $61 million transportation bond approved in 2001. Prior to that, voters passed transportation bond packages of $56 million in 1999 and $57 million in 1997.

Bond packages require a two-thirds vote of approval in the House and the Senate before they can be sent out to statewide referendum. As the state continues to struggle economically, Senate Republican Leader Paul Davis of Sangerville said a two-thirds vote in the Senate was anything but a foregone conclusion.

“We would have to look at this very hard before we would be inclined to go along with it,” he said. “It depends upon the details. But I already know that there’s too much state debt, so I’m not sure I like this too much either.”

If the $75 million bond or $113 million request for state highway funds aren’t approved, chunks of federal matching funds also would be lost.

Maine Transportation Commissioner David Cole and Baldacci said more of the specifics in the transportation bond package would be available today when the administration is supposed to release its entire list of bond proposals. Cole did mention a few of the projects covered under the proposed bond in northern and eastern Maine, including:

. Replacement of the Old Town-Milford Bridge on Route 2;

. Rehabilitation of the hangar at the former Loring AFB;

. Air conditioning for the visitor information centers in Hampden and Houlton;

. Replacement of the Gov. Curtis ferry out of Rockland;

. A preliminary engineering study for the I-395-Route 9 connector; and,

. Completion of improvements to the general purpose cargo pier at Mack Point in Searsport, including enhanced highway access to the port.

“These are investments in Maine’s infrastructure and investments in Maine’s balance sheet, reflected by projects representative of all modes of transportation,” Cole said.