Portsmouth Herald
October 19, 2010

PORTSMOUTH — U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is coming to Portsmouth on Wednesday afternoon to formally announce the $20 million federal transportation stimulus grant for replacement of the Memorial Bridge.

The visit comes just after the first meeting of the Maine-N.H. Bi-State Funding Task Force, which met in Portland, Maine Monday. The task force has been charged with coming up with a funding and legislative strategy for all three bridges that cross the Piscataqua River — the Memorial, Sarah Mildred Long and Piscataqua River bridges.

Expected to join LaHood when he makes the announcement about the TIGER II grant at 1 Harbour Place are Govs. John Lynch of N.H. and John Baldacci of Maine, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Congresswomen Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., and Chellie Pingree, D-Maine.

News that the U.S. DOT awarded the grant to N.H. broke last Friday, but it won't be official until Wednesday. U.S. DOT officials declined further comment on LaHood's visit.

Initially, it was thought that LaHood might come to Maine to make the announcement, but according to several congressional sources, the decision was made to hold the event in Portsmouth because New Hampshire was the applicant.

Meanwhile, several new developments were announced at the task force meeting in Portland. Paul Godfrey of the engineering firm HNTB, who has been heading up the Maine-N.H. Connections Study, told members that both the bike/pedestrian-only option and the no-bridge option at the Memorial Bridge are officially off the table.

According to N.H. DOT Commissioner George Campbell, this is the first time that Godfrey has publicly said that. "That's good," Campbell said.

Costs were also detailed, according to Ben Porter of Save Our Bridges, who attended the meeting. The replacement of the Memorial Bridge is now pegged at $95 million, a hybrid replacement of the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge is estimated at $185 million and another $60 million to $70 million will be needed for major work on the Piscataqua River bridge within the next 20 years, he said.

Godfrey also told the group that the connections study report, initially due out in June, is now not due until December. According to the study Web site, a steering and stakeholder joint meeting is expected to take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Nov. 16, at the Kittery Trading Post. A public meeting will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. that night at the Frank Jones Center in Portsmouth.

At that meeting, a draft of the final study report is expected to be circulated.

Campbell characterized the meeting on Monday as organizational in nature, with the six task force members getting to know one another and the issue. In addition to him, task force members for N.H. are Executive Councilor Beverley Hollingworth and Manchester attorney Henry Stebbins, and, for Maine, Maine DOT Commissioner David Cole, Maine Turnpike Authority Chairman Gerard Conley and Maine State Chamber of Commerce President Dana Connors, who was named leader of the task force.

The next meeting will take place on Nov. 4. At that time, said Campbell, the task force has invited financial advisor James Calpin of Merrill Lynch to talk with them. Campbell said Calpin is familiar with Maine and N.H. transportation projects, as his firm has been a bond underwriter in both states. "He's familiar with our bonding capacity, and he is a neutral person who can talk to us about a range of financial options," he said.

The task force has to report back to both governors by mid-December.