Maine and New Hampshire
transportation officials learned this week that the states did not receive a
$25 million federal grant to build a rail line as part of the Sarah Mildred
Long Bridge
replacement project.
Joyce
Taylor, chief engineer for the Maine Department of Transportation, said Friday
the states still intend to go forward with plans for the rail line, which would
carry nuclear waste in and out of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
The Long Bridge
is the No. 1 red-listed bridge in New
Hampshire and is nearing the end of its useful life.
Taylor said, at this point, she doesn't
know how the two states will make up the difference or whether those
discussions will result in a delay in construction. Work is expected to begin
on the $160 million replacement in fall 2014.
"We
were very hopeful, but we knew going into it that Maine's had a lot of success with TIGER
funding," she said, referring to the federal Transportation Investment
Generating Economic Recovery grant for which the states had applied. "This
is pretty rare money, so we knew it wasn't for sure."
The
federal Department of Transportation on Thursday awarded $474 million in the
2013 round of TIGER grants. Maine received $6
million for a breakwater replacement in Eastport, and New
Hampshire received $1.4 million for improvements to 42 miles of
the Northeast Rail Corridor between Rochester
and Ossipee.
The two
states sought a grant for the Long
Bridge rail line because
federal highway money cannot be used for rails. TIGER funding is one of the few
means to fill the funding gap, state transportation officials have said.
According
to MDOT spokesman Ted Talbot, Maine and New Hampshire
transportation commissioners Dave Bernhardt and Chris Clement have already
spoken about the issue, and more meetings are scheduled with top transportation
officials as they "work to identify how we can close that gap."
The U.S.
Navy has indicated it doesn't intend to budget money for the rail line. To
date, no other use is made of the rail.
"We
just have to regroup," Taylor
said. "Both states need this bridge."