Maine Transportation Commissioner Bruce Van Note said the state's latest three-year work plan should be able to continue making "smart and steady progress" thanks to increased federal funding. Federal sources will make up about half of the $4.8 billion the state plans to spend on transportation projects over the next three years.
Van Note said it's too soon to know how President Donald Trump's policies will affect that funding. But Van Note said he's hopeful, in part, because Trump "likes to build big things."
Traditional funding sources, especially the gas tax, now make up only 22% of the funding. An increasing source of funding comes from so-called "revenue bonds," which don't require voter approval. Such borrowing will require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.
The three-year work plan will mostly go to projects that maintain or renew highways and bridges around the state. Van Note said the one brand-new road project is a long-discussed, six-mile bypass road around Presque Isle.
But there's also funding for airports, railroads, ports, bicycle paths and ferries. And the state will continue a program that pays for upgrades to downtowns.
Van Note said that program is designed to ensure "You can't just get there from here but make the here-and-there someplace you want to be."
