It’s a popular saying that there are two seasons in Maine – winter, and construction season. While it can be annoying to have your commute or weekend trip delayed by lane closures and detours, it’s critical for our safety and economy that those roads and bridges are maintained. More than ever, with fuel costs driving prices for everything else, we must avoid any unnecessary expenses.

While we have no control over the cost of gasoline, we can help improve travel efficiency for Maine commuters by keeping the roads and bridges in good shape and increasing access to alternative forms of transportation. Safe roads and bridges reduce the cost of maintaining your car over the years, and serve as necessary tools for businesses to connect with each other.

Over the past two years, the Legislature has focused the most attention on improving the transportation network in decades. We boosted investment in road and bridge repairs to keep up with demand and growing costs, and directed funds toward expanding transit, aeronautics and rail transportation, including the Downeaster train service.

In 2007, the Legislature passed a historic bond package that Maine voters supported in three separate statewide referenda. The total state investment in transportation upgrades from the bond package was $136 million, which is drawing down another $256.9 million in matching funds that we will not have to pay back. This translates to real, immediate upgrades in our state transportation network, and thousands of new jobs for the road and bridge industry.

While the rapid increase in fuel prices is relatively new, the cost of construction materials has been rising at that rate for many years. Rapidly developing countries such as China and India are experiencing their industrial revolutions, and are buying steel and other materials that we use to build bridges and lay down new roads at a breakneck pace.

The longer we wait to invest, the less bang we’ll get for our buck.

We will get more work done now – at a lower overall cost – than if we spread these projects over the next 10 years, so it makes sense to bond at a low rate today. And we’re delivering an economic boost to one of the many industries suffering in this tough national economy.

If there’s one thing that we’ve learned from the tragic bridge collapse in Minnesota a year ago, we cannot take chances with the strength of our bridges – and the hundreds of posted roads across the state are a clear indicator that even with the 2007 bond investment, our state is still woefully behind in road maintenance.

This year, we added to that investment by passing two separate GARVEE bonds, infusing more than $200 million more into road and bridge repairs in the next few years.

GARVEE bonds are different from general obligation bonds, because we know that a reimbursement for our investment is already coming from the federal government. This makes the process considerably faster – once GARVEE bonds are approved by the Legislature, the money is available and we can get work started immediately.

The days of paying less than $2 per gallon are behind us. Public transportation and alternative methods of commuting, like rail, are going to be more important as we shift toward a more fuel efficient and environmentally conscious transportation future. The Legislature also took steps this year to advance the development of rail in Maine.

Amtrak’s Downeaster will soon expand service further north; and from there, train service can reach out to other Maine communities. Rail investment will increase tourism, and allow for broader leisure and business commuting at a lower cost to commuters – who can put those savings back into the economy.

In Maine and everywhere else, a strong economy depends on a strong transportation network – and now more than ever, one that is built looking to the future. The work done by the 123rd Legislature – which was sponsored by Democrats but passed with broad bipartisan support – puts us on a responsible path to get there.

Rep. Sean Faircloth, D-Bangor, is the Majority Whip in the Maine House of Representatives.