Bill to fix state bridges passes its first hurdle

AUGUSTA – The Legislature’s Transportation Committee voted overwhelmingly Thursday in favor of Gov. John Baldacci’s proposal to raise $160 million over four years to fix Maine’s bridges.

The bill, LD 2313, was unveiled Tuesday and follows up on a November report that urged a significant increase in funding for bridge replacements and repairs in Maine. Baldacci’s plan envisions 246 bridge projects, including 80 bridge replacements across the state, to be financed through new revenue bonds and existing resources.

The bill “takes what the Department [of Transportation], the governor and the committee [have] identified as what is really a crisis in our infrastructure,” said Rep. Boyd P. Marley, D-Portland, House chairman of the Transportation Committee. “This one is going to save us millions of dollars in the future, as well as make our bridges safer.”

Rep. Douglas Thomas, R-Ripley, was the bill’s only opponent.

The bill also includes a bridge innovation and composites initiative. DOT, working with the University of Maine’s Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center, plans to expand use of composites technologies in bridge maintenance, construction and inspection. The aim is to extend the life of bridges, expedite their design and construction, and reduce costs and the impact on the traveling public, the bill says.

State Transportation Commissioner David Cole called the collaboration between the department and the university “a natural partnership.”

“We want to know how can we use the university’s innovation and research to better build our bridges,” Cole said. “We’re still in the exploratory stages of working with them.” He said members of his department are talking about a pilot project using composites.

The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for a vote.