We’ve all had it, that nightmare where you’re driving along and suddenly find yourself falling. You wake up just before the deadly crash into the water.

For 13 unfortunate people that nightmare became reality last summer when the I-35W bridge in Minnesota collapsed. Gov. John Baldacci properly ordered a review of all Maine bridges and the results just came back. The news is sobering. While no currently operating bridges were found to pose an immediate threat, it is clear that the overall condition of Maine bridges is poor and declining. The task force recommended increased spending of $50 million to $60 million a year to upgrade Maine’s bridges.

Bridges are only a part of Maine’s tremendous transportation need, in the short and long term. Maine’s Highway Fund, which is funded largely by a fuel tax based on gallons sold and pays for transportation improvements, is facing a $16.5 million shortfall this year and next.

If that isn’t bad enough, earlier this year the Maine Department of Transportation estimated that our transportation network will face a $2 billion deficit between needs and resources over the next 10 years. One major factor is the rapidly escalating cost of construction. The extreme rise in oil prices from $30 to almost $100 per barrel is reflected in construction costs. Additionally, the cost of steel and concrete, essential building materials for bridges, has risen threefold because of increased worldwide demand.

If anyone thinks the nightmare scenario cannot happen here, I remind them of the Waldo-Hancock Bridge, which deteriorated to the point of being closed to trucks in 2002. The financial impact cost the region dearly until the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge opened a year ago.

No one disputes that a safe and efficient transportation system is essential to our economy and our quality of life. More than 70 percent of Maine voters strongly supported a transportation bond package totaling $113 million last June.

Maine could jump-start some projects by increasing our level of bonding, but that is at best a Band-Aid approach. It does not address the long-term $2 billion gap between resources and needs. Traditionally, the federal government has stepped forward to help states with these kinds of massive infrastructure projects. Unfortunately, the federal government does not appear ready to address this problem. The Federal Highway Trust Fund is predicted to be insolvent by 2010.

That leaves Maine on its own. Two things are clear – Maine needs to implement its long-term plan to address its transportation needs and needs to fund that plan to meet those needs. The Maine DOT has recently released its Long-Range Transportation Plan for the next 20 years, and it is almost identical to the Legislature’s plan passed earlier this year.

Comprehensive transportation planning must include a mix of options, including greater use of rail and ports. I will continue to be a strong advocate for expanding Downeaster passenger rail to Brunswick. Transportation planning must encourage greater reliance on renewable fuel such as biodiesel. It must encourage greater use of alternative transportation, with expanded public transportation and expanded trail networks for bicycles. These considerations have the added benefit of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, which is good for our economy and the environment, and of improving our health by encouraging exercise and physical activity.

The Long-Range Transportation Plan and LD 1790, the Legislature’s plan, include the creative use of new construction materials and methods such as composite technology being developed at the Advanced Engineering Wood Composite Center at the University of Maine. This is very important to Maine’s economy. Also, it is time for us to include innovative public-private partnerships, such as the proposal for a privately funded east-west highway.

In the final analysis, meeting Maine’s transportation needs for the 21st century will require greater financial resources and commitment. The potential solutions are many – increased fees for registrations, licenses and vehicle titles, a gas tax tied in part to gasoline prices, an increased focus on tolls and redirecting a portion of vehicle sales tax revenue to the Highway Fund are often cited. Other states have already taken such dramatic steps. Pennsylvania is in the process of adding tolls to I-80 and Indiana has leased its toll road to a foreign private operator.

None of this will be easy. But until we roll up our sleeves and get to work, Maine’s transportation network will continue to deteriorate. We simply cannot afford that. None of us wants to wake up 20 years from now to find our nightmare has become reality.

Beth Edmonds is president of the Maine Senate.