Highway budget gap to top $700M
State analysts are predicting a more than $700 million shortage in the state's highway fund, on top of the $1 billion anticipated budget gap for the next two years.
The expected $720 million shortfall affects capital improvements for highways and bridges, while other maintenance will remain funded in the current $1.2 billion two-year highway and transportation budget, according to The Associated Press. However, some state officials say the list of capital improvements the state wants to undertake -- including rebuilding major and minor arterial highways that don't meet national standards by 2022 -- is overly ambitious. Rep. Douglas Thomas, who has served on the Legislature's transportation committee, told The AP the project list "is based on faulty information and a lot is based on people with a vested interest" in the work.
But Maria Fuentes, executive director of the Maine Better Transportation Association, said lengthy delays of some projects poses "a big risk" and that nearly half of the 8,400 miles of state-maintained highways need to be reconstructed.
Go to the article from The AP >>
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