On Nov. 5, Maine’s voters will be asked to authorize a $105 million bond that would be used to build and upgrade highways, bridges, ports, air and rail transportation.
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On Nov. 5, Maine’s voters will be asked to authorize a $105 million bond issue to fund infrastructure projects, the only one of three bonds proposed by Gov. Janet Mills that got the green light from state lawmakers in August.
Among other things, the funding would be used to build and upgrade highways, bridges, ports, air and rail transportation and repair culverts, and to renovate a wharf at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Maine so that commercial fishing and marine research vessels could return.
The biggest chunk of the proposed general obligation bond, $85 million, would be used to construct and rehabilitate state highways classified as Priority 1, 2 and 3, and to replace and rehabilitate bridges.
If voters approve to Question 1, it would be the 10th transportation-related bond issue approved in a dozen years, according to Ballotpedia, resulting in close to $780 million in debt issued. Out of a total of 38 bond issues that were on the ballot between Jan. 1, 2007, and Jan. 1, 2019, voters approved all but one.
Bruce Van Note, commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation, told Mainebiz he’s optimistic Maine voters will continue their tradition of showing strong support for transportation bonds this November.
“We need this funding to keep Maine’s highways and bridges safe and reliable,” he said in an emailed statement from Iceland, where he was part of the Maine delegation to the Arctic Circle Assembly.
“Bond funds are used to leverage federal funds, meaning about half of our capital program is at risk without bond approval,” he added. “We also know that interest rates will rise someday, and relying on borrowing to the extent that we have will not work forever.”
A spokesperson for the MDOT said the agency doesn’t identify specific projects that may or may not get done based the bond going ahead.
Amount ‘won’t be enough’
The Maine Better Transportation Association, an Augusta-based nonprofit, wants to see the measure passed.
“$105 million won’t be enough, but without it, the state will get even further behind in managing the system that it is responsible for,” Maria Fuentes, the group’s executive director, told Mainebiz. “It if doesn’t pass, Maine DOT will have to cut many dozens of projects, and federal matching funds — which Mainers have already paid into — will also be at risk, as will private and local matching funds.”
She also warned that if Question 2 is defeated, the impacts will be much worse than $105 million in funding cuts.