MDOT unveils $2B transportation plan
The Maine Department of Transportation unveiled on Tuesday a three-year transportation work plan with a price tag of just over $2 billion. Of that tally, only this year’s scheduled 425 capital projects, with a cost of $455 million, are actually paid for.
MDOT officials expressed confidence at Tuesday’s press conference announcing the plan that the necessary state and federal funds will be secured to complete more than 1,000 projects scheduled for 2015 and 2016, according to a radio report by Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
This year’s work plan includes 54 bridges (with a total estimate value of $190 million) and 73 miles of state roads ($68 million) that will be rebuilt or rehabilitated. Almost 25% of the $455 million price tag for this year’s projects will come from the $100 million transportation bond approved by voters last November. Projects scheduled to be completed in 2014 include: replacement of the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge between Kittery and Portsmouth, N.H., capital improvements at International Marine Terminal in Portland, reconstruction of the Eastport Breakwater, upgrades at the Brunswick Executive Airport and 11 miles of highway reconstruction on Route 302 between Bridgton and Fryeburg.
Matthew Marks, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Maine, told MBPN the state’s 2014 transportation plan provides a much-needed boost to Maine companies within the trade group, noting that unemployment among its members remains high at 16%.
In the executive summary of the state’s 243-page work plan, MDOT Commissioner David Bernhardt pointed out that even the projected $2 billion cost of completing every project in the three-year plan falls short of what’s needed. “We currently estimated MDOT’s core capital highway and bridge programs are underfunded by about 30%, or about $100 million per year,” he wrote.
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