Replacement of the Waldo-Hancock Bridge, a bypass to relieve traffic congestion in Gorham and pedestrian trails near Baxter State Park are among the projects to be funded as part of the $1.2 billion in federal transportation money headed to Maine.
A $300 billion national transportation funding bill approved Friday by Congress earmarks $195 million for those and other specific projects in Maine.
The new Waldo-Hancock bridge on U.S. 1 between Verona and Prospect will get $31 million, Interstate 295 will get nearly $16 million for improvements in the Portland area, and the Downeaster passenger train will be funded for another four years statewide.
The Gorham bypass, which has been considered for decades, has become urgent because of growing traffic congestion in the southern Maine college town.
The bill includes a designation of an east-west highway corridor from Calais to Watertown, N.Y., which is projected to increase trade with Northeast states and Canada.
All four members of Maine’s congressional delegation supported the bill.
“For Maine, it’s outstanding,” said Republican U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe. “It provides enormous benefits for the state of Maine.”
The legislation, although technically covering a six-year period, will be retroactive to last fall.
Maine will receive more per year that it did under the previous transportation funding policy, but its residents still pay more in federal gas tax than they receive from the highway trust fund.
Maine received about 94.7 cents per $1 paid in gas taxes under the old policy. The figure will rise, with fluctuations, to 96.5 cents in the final year of the bill in 2009.
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