York Weekly
October 16, 2010

New Hampshire and Maine will receive a $20 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant to help replace Memorial Bridge, and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is expected to travel to Maine for the official announcement Wednesday.

The extremely competitive Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery II grant award was first announced Friday by U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine.

"I think this is ...; wow, where to start?" said Kittery resident Ben Porter, who started the citizens advocacy group Save Our Bridges, which focuses on the spans connecting Portsmouth and Kittery. "This is exceptionally good news. It's a huge milestone. This puts together the full financing package for the Memorial Bridge replacement."

Pingree said LaHood called her Friday morning with the news. Pingree said, in a conversation several weeks ago, LaHood asked her if the states would be willing to accept $10 million.

"I told him we need the full $20 million, and he listened," Pingree said. "It's important that the federal government shows people that we're in. Anyone who has spent any time in Kittery knows how critically important the Memorial Bridge is."

The U.S. Department of Transportation received $19 billion in requests for $600 million in TIGER II grant awards, which means only 3 percent of the projects were approved.

New Hampshire Transportation Commissioner George Campbell said he was very gratified to hear that the award had been made.

"It's wonderful. I think the recognition by two governors last week, and now the recognition by the U.S. DOT of the importance of two bridges and that transportation corridor ...; you couldn't ask for more," he said. "It's good news, and such a great affirmation of the critical nature of that bridge."

The state of New Hampshire applied for the grant, with support from Maine Gov. John Baldacci.

Last spring, the N.H. Legislature approved $45 million in bonding for the replacement of Memorial Bridge. When added to money already set aside for work and now the TIGER II funds, New Hampshire will have enough to replace the bridge on its own. As envisioned by New Hampshire last spring, Maine would pay its share when it comes time to repair the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge, which also connects Kittery and Portsmouth.

However, Campbell said Friday the Bi-State Funding Task Force, created last week by Govs. Baldacci and John Lynch, changes the equation somewhat. It will be up to the task force to determine funding mechanisms for both bridges. One scenario the task force will consider is for New Hampshire to pay for Memorial Bridge up front, but all funding options will be on the table, he said.

Meanwhile, Campbell said, the N.H. DOT is moving forward with the permitting process to replace Memorial Bridge, as well as starting the bidding process for design/build team. He anticipates it will take a year for everything to be in place. By then, he expects, the next governors of both states and the Maine Legislature in particular will have had time to review the financing plan outlined in the task force report due out in December and to agree on the solution.

"What the grant does do is give us $20 million more in the bank, and $20 million is an extraordinary down payment," he said.

In announcing the visit of LaHood, Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine said the funding validates the hard work of their office and the entire Maine and New Hampshire congressional delegations.

"This is terrific news," said Collins, a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation. Collins arranged for a top U.S. DOT official to visit the area earlier this year. "I am delighted that the DOT has agreed to help fund this project."

"I could not be more pleased that the DOT has awarded this vital funding to Maine and New Hampshire, that will make fantastic strides toward repairing this crucial piece of our transportation infrastructure spanning the two states," said Snowe, a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., also said the delegations played a crucial role. "This was a bipartisan effort on the part of the New Hampshire and Maine delegations, and we're all very grateful for Secretary LaHood's understanding of the critical importance of this project and for making this a priority," she said.

"The Memorial Bridge is vital to our economy and our safety, and the New Hampshire and Maine delegations worked together with Secretary LaHood to secure the TIGER II grant," said Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H. "We are now one step closer to making this project a reality."

Pingree said a large part of the credit goes to local residents, like Porter and the other Save Our Bridges members, who worked hard. "All those great community organizers were so dogged about it. It was a big cross section, and they were not backing down," she said. "That makes a huge difference."