$3 million in federal funding sought for Waldo-Hancock Bridge project

A congressional panel last week earmarked $3 million for the Waldo-Hancock Bridge in a spending bill for next year amid efforts by the state Department of Transportation to try to speed the federal process to help pay for a new structure to carry Route 1 traffic over the Penobscot River.

The condition of the 72-year-old bridge apparently caught planners by surprise, prompting the state to post a 24,000-pound weight limit July 11. That has forced much commercial traffic to find an alternative route while planners try to figure out how to pay for a new bridge.

Federal money can account for as much as 80 percent of the price of a new transportation project.

The DOT already has announced that it has transferred $20 million from the Carlton Bridge project in Bath to the Waldo-Hancock Bridge. The money can be used for repairs on the existing bridge or toward costs involved in the construction of a new bridge.

The department estimates it will take three years to build a new bridge at a cost of about $50 million.

Last week, the House Transportation Committee approved some $89.3 billion in spending, including $3 million for the Waldo-Hancock Bridge. But the bill still must be approved by the full House, and the U.S. Senate has yet to act, probably by fall. The money is for a spending bill that covers the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

Presumably, the $3 million approved last week by the House Appropriations Committee would go toward construction of a new bridge, but Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, whose district includes the bridge, could not be reached Sunday to explain details.

The $3 million earmarked for the bridge is the largest portion of $10 million allocated for transportation projects in Maine. The bill includes funds for buses on Mount Desert Island and for scenic byways around the state.

Posting of the Waldo-Hancock Bridge, which spans the Penobscot between Prospect and Verona, has forced large trucks, buses and large RVs to travel to Bangor to cross the river, some 40 miles out of their way.

The DOT has tried to accelerate the federal approval process to construct a new bridge, and, according to state Transportation Commissioner David Cole, is pursuing a three-phase approach to the bridge problem.

Cole said last week that the department is concentrating its efforts on:

. Building the new bridge.

. Maintaining the existing bridge during the projected three years of construction.

. Managing the transition between the two.

Last week, DOT officials announced plans to add supplemental cables to the bridge to increase safety by shifting some of the load from the structure’s deteriorating cables.

Also last week, the DOT’s public advisory committee, which has been providing local response on bridge issues, asked the department to narrow its focus to just two styles – a cable-stayed bridge or another suspension bridge. The committee also chose to focus on two proposed alignments for the new bridge.

Work on the bridge, which has included inspection of the main cable on the south side, and removal of the narrow, concrete sidewalks from the bridge, stopped this weekend in order to provide two lanes of traffic across the bridge during the Fort Knox Bay Festival in Bucksport. Removal of the concrete sidewalks is an effort to lighten the load. Engineers said last week that removal of the sidewalks will lessen the dead load on the bridge by about 320 tons.

Work on the bridge was expected to resume Sunday.

Meanwhile, state troopers continued to monitor traffic across the bridge and to divert larger vehicles to other routes.