AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine is heading in the wrong direction when it comes to maintaining the condition of its bridges. The state's transportation commissioner says a study released last year shows that Maine has lost ground on repair and replacement efforts since 2007, while other New England states, and the nation as a whole, have actually improved.
There are a lot of bridges in Maine - more than 2,500 in excess of 20 feet - and hundreds of shorter spans. The state is responsible for 70 percent of those bridges, and Commissioner David Bernhardt says the state is falling behind in the repair and replacement of those bridges.
Bernhardt told members of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, with the help of some charts and graphs, that more money needs to be spent on bridges in Maine - at least double the $70 million a year currently allocated.
"You will see like a downward trend in the U.S," Bernhardt said. "And even in New England you will see a downward trend in their structurally deficient bridges. Talking with my counterparts, one of the things they have done - and this is one of, this is where we can - I would like to have a conversation and debate with everyone, is that they have taken the resources they have and put it to bridges."
That taking money from road repair and reconstruction and putting it into bridge repairs and construction did not sit will with many committee members. Rep. Andrew McLean, a Democrat from Gorham, is the co-chair of the panel.
"What you are advocating for is taking money from fixing our roads and putting that in the pot to fix our bridges. That is just one of the pieces we have to look at," McLean said. "We have to look at additional money."
But Gov. Paul LePage has said no way will he support a state gas tax increase, and Congress has not raised the federal gas tax since 1993. So what Bernhardt says the practical approach is more borrowing through bonds that would be paid for with general fund dollars, not money from the highway fund, which is mostly from gas tax revenues.
Again McLean pressed Bernhardt on the size of such a bond. "I have a bond bill in and it’s a $190 million for two years," McLean said.
"It in that - it's definitely in that range, yes," Bernhardt responded.
Any borrowing for bridges through bonding will take a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate, and voter approval at referendum. Rep. Wayne Parry, from Arundel, the lead House Republican on the committee, says bonding for bridges should be considered.
"I have never been a huge bond person," Parry said, "but I think when you bond things that are 50 to 100 years old, those are the things we should be bonding, not to get a road to 10 years."
Bernhardt stressed part of his plan is to prevent serious problems from happening to Maine bridges in the first place. He says preservation of existing bridges is as important as replacement. He says a significant amount of the $140 million a year he believes is needed is set aside for serious maintenance.
"We really want - in any additional funding we get, we really want to pay attention to the preservation of the existing bridges," he said. "We don’t want another Waldo-Hancock."
Bernhardt was referring to the emergency replacement of the bridge that used to span the Penobscot River at Bucksport. Its replacement cost was $85 million and took four years to build. Much of that new bridge was paid for with federal grants, and Bernhardt told lawmakers he expects the federal government will kick in more funding for states to tackle the bridge problems all are facing.
He told lawmakers the details of the administration’s bonding proposal have not been finalized, but that it will lay out a 10-year plan to tackle the backlog of bridge repairs and replacements.
