The LePage administration is proposing to make it more expensive to own a hybrid or electric vehicle in Maine. The Maine Department of Transportation wants to impose an annual registration fee on the vehicles, $150 for gas-electric hybrid cars and $250 for all-electric models. An extra fee is needed to make hybrid and all-electric owners […]
infrastructure
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Susan Collins wants to boost funding where Donald Trump aims to cut
Health care isn’t the only area where U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is defying President Donald Trump. In her role as chair of an appropriations subcommittee devoted to transportation, housing and urban development, the Maine Republican is pushing through a budget plan for transportation and housing that calls for spending more than $8 billion above what […]
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Posted inOp-Eds
Legislature must increase funding for roads, bridges
Maine roads have taken a real beating this winter, made worse by years of deferred maintenance. So, too, have state bridges, rail lines, airports and seaports lacked proper maintenance. Our statewide transportation infrastructure is suffering, and the cost of delaying fixes is only making matters worse. Maine’s 21st-century economy needs a 21st-century transportation network. It’s […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
State plans bridge, road work in Lewiston
More than $14 million worth of road and bridge improvements are planned in Lewiston during the next several years. The Maine Department of Transportation infrastructure work plan released Monday, which offers more than $2.3 billion in projects across the state, includes a number of them in Lewiston. Among the projects eyed in the three-year plan […]
Posted inLocal & State
Maine earns C- grade for infrastructure
Maine’s roads, dams and bridges are in poor shape. A new report issued Monday by the American Society of Civil Engineers handed a C- grade to the state’s infrastructure. A team of professional engineers looked over 14 categories that included everything from airports to state parks to determine an overall grade, which isn’t going to […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Sen. Susan Collins lays out ‘new agenda for America’
LEWISTON — After a campaign that’s left the country bitter and divided, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins offered four “achievable goals” Thursday to help heal the wounds and get the country moving in the right direction. Calling it “a new agenda for America,” the four-term Republican said her proposal would draw support from Democrats as well […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Cutler proposes infrastructure policy
PORTLAND — Gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler called for improved roads, cellular service and Internet access during the first major policy announcement of his campaign on Tuesday. Cutler said Maine needs to fix and modernize its road system to improve the state’s economy, which he said lags because of outdated roads and bridges. He made the […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Obama seeks $300 billion for roads, railways
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is asking Congress for $300 billion to update the nation’s roads and railways. Obama plans to make the proposal Wednesday at the Union Depot rail and bus station in St. Paul, Minn. The Highway Trust Fund finances federal highway and transit programs but is forecast to go broke as early […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Consultant recommends UMaine System trim ‘building infrastructure’
BANGOR — University of Maine System buildings are underutilized compared to similar public universities, and backlogged maintenance for its aging facilities could cost more than $400 million, according to a facilities consultant. The seven-campus system’s finance, facilities and technology committee heard a report from the consultant, Sightlines, on Feb. 14. Sightlines is paid $107,000 annually […]