Governor Janet Mills today urged Maine voters to go to the polls Tuesday and approve Question One to authorize $105 million in general obligation bonds for critical transportation projects statewide.
“We are one of the most rural states and we have the most dispersed population in the country, which makes maintaining our infrastructure both challenging and critically important,” said Governor Mills. “This is not a partisan issue. We don’t drive on Democratic or Republican roads, but our roads are in dire need of repair and reconstruction. I urge all Maine people to vote for Question One so we can provide safe infrastructure for Maine people and strengthen our economy.”
“Right now, the dedicated people at MaineDOT are doing their best to provide our customers a safe and reliable transportation system in a rural state that is facing a serious unmet funding need,” said Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner Bruce Van Note.“Those challenges will become exponentially more difficult without these bond funds. I strongly urge Maine people to support Question One so that we can do what we do best: work at building a safe and effective transportation system for the people of our state.”
Question One reads “Do you favor a $105,000,000 bond issue to build or improve roads, bridges, railroads, airports, transit and ports and make other transportation investments, to be used to match an estimated $137,000,000 in federal and other funds?”
Governor Mills proposed and signed the $105 million bond into law after it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Legislature in August of this year.
The transportation bond:
- provides $85 million to construct, reconstruct or rehabilitate state roads, highways, and bridges;
- provides $15 million for ports, rail, and air facilities or equipment that preserve public safety or otherwise have demonstrated high transportation economic value including property acquisition;
- provides $4 million for culverts and stream crossings and matches local funding for the upgrade of municipal culverts at stream crossings in order to improve fish and wildlife habitats and increase community safety, and
- provides $1 million for the Gulf of Maine Research Institute Bulkhead to protect working waterfronts and further restoration of a commercial fishing wharf to support both research in the Gulf of Maine and long-term marine-based job development.