Rail funds in question
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
State and local officials are cautiously optimistic that federal funding in the form of a TIGER grant for $10.5 million, that the U.S. DOT awarded to Maine last fall for upgrades to about 240 miles of rail between Millinocket and Madawaska, will come through as planned, despite budget-cutting efforts currently under way in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Susan Collins, ranking member of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, recently spoke with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood requesting that he expedite the release of $30.5 million in TIGER grant funds for bridge and rail improvements in Maine — $10.5 million of which was awarded last fall for upgrades and improvements to 233 miles of rail line serving Aroostook and northern Penobscot counties. The state purchased this line after it was proposed for abandonment by Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway.
“Unfortunately, the morning of Feb. 21, the House of Representatives passed a federal funding bill that included language that would eliminate certain grant funds for transportation infrastructure projects. This language could result in Maine losing this rail funding if those funds are not released by the date of the bill’s enactment,” stated Collins.
Recognizing that Maine stands to lose vital transportation funds, Collins contacted Secretary LaHood and requested that he work with local and state stakeholders to expedite the release of these funds.
“It’s unfortunate that the House never considered an amendment that would have helped protect funding for the northern Maine rail line and the Memorial Bridge (between New Hampshire and Maine) projects. These are important infrastructure projects that are crucial to the flow of goods and services in Maine and for keeping and attracting new jobs to our state,” Collins said. “I will continue to ask that the secretary cut through the bureaucratic red tape that is impeding the release of these important TIGER funds. The state of Maine and private investors are committing resources for these projects; the federal government should provide the resources it promised in October.”
Congressman Mike Michaud has also been working to get the funds approved and on their way to Maine.
“We must join together to build America’s infrastructure,” said Michaud. “There is no doubt that we must address our budget deficit and I support spending cuts. But investments in our transportation system put Americans to work and give our businesses the infrastructure they need to grow and stay competitive. Simply put, cutting these investments will hurt our economic recovery, potentially making our deficit forecasts even worse.”
Michaud said this funding bill is the priority now, calling it a “bad deal for Maine.”
“Among other things, it would eliminate over $10 million that was awarded to the MDOT to repair and improve the freight rail line in Aroostook and northern Penobscot counties. This could put our efforts to save the freight rail line in jeopardy, which would have a terrible economic ripple effect in the communities that rely on it,” he said, acknowledging cuts need to be made, but wisely.
“We need to cut the deficit and get our fiscal house in order. But it should be done through the lens of job creation and economic development. We need to reform and cut programs to make government more efficient, but we can’t afford to cut back on investments we know will have a direct and positive impact on job retention and creation,” said Michaud.
Denis Berube, director of planning and transportation services, Northern Maine Development Commission, has been following the topic closely.
“As most of you know, the federal House has passed a bill that would see significant cuts to the federal budget. These cuts include the entire federal TIGER 2 program totaling $600 million, which also includes the $10.5 million that Maine is in line to receive for repairing the lines. This bill now has to go to the Senate where it’s expected to get a lot of attention on the part of the Democrats,” said Berube.
Following that, said Berube, it still has to go to the President for final approval.
“This process has until March 4 to reach a resolution, otherwise the U.S. government will face a shutdown, which likely won’t happen. Given the amount of controversy around these proposed cuts, I would guess this process will, in effect, go on until the March 4 deadline,” he said.
Berube said to his knowledge, none of the TIGER 2 awards to projects all over the country have yet been released. He indicated there is still a good chance the $10.5 million will come through, despite the proposed cuts in Washington.
“That being said, if the funding relating to the TIGER 2 can be secured or ‘obligated’ prior to final approval to the budget cuts, then we should be all set because it will have been acquired under the current spending cycle. All efforts are being made by state and federal officials to see this through and have been under way since over a week ago when it was realized that the TIGER 2 was on the chopping block,” said Berube, noting he hadn’t commented prior “because there were a lot of unknowns and therefore no answers to the obvious questions that would have arisen.”
Berube is optimistic, since much of the project is deemed “shovel ready.”
“As it stands, the rail project is in a relatively good position in terms of being immediately ‘ready to go,’ which should make the process of securing the funding easier than it would be otherwise — albeit not guaranteed by any means,” Berube said.
Due to Monday being Presidents’ Day — a federal holiday — and Tuesday was a state shutdown day, Berube said he didn’t expect anything “until later this week or possibly the next as to the status for this project.”
“I figure we’ve held our breath over these rails for over a year, we should be pretty good at doing it for a while longer,” said Berube. “After all, back in June of last year, the bond to purchase the tracks passed the Statehouse by one vote, so it’s not the first time this thing’s been on the edge.”
In the meantime, officials will be considering which of five candidates will be selected to operate the line.
“The proposals to operate the tracks were received last Thursday (Feb. 17) and in all there were five candidates. They are, in no particular order: Springfield Terminal Railway (Pan Am), Rail America, Patriot Rail, Eastern Maine Railroad (Irving) and the Myles Group. All of them have websites that can easily be Googled if anyone wants more information,” said Berube, noting, “the process for scoring these proposals is currently on the go.”
