The Maine Dept. of Transportation announced that they will fund planning projects related to Gateway 1 for all expenses incurred through March 1, when DOT suspended work on Gateway 1 indefinitely.
Gateway 1 was a proposed interlocal planning coalition between 20 towns along a 100-mile stretch of Rt. 1 between Brunswick and Stockton Springs. The coalition would have coordinated the distribution of any DOT non-maintenance, non-safety funds designated for projects in the region.
At Gov. Paul LePage’s request, DOT ordered the immediate suspension of all work on Gateway 1 on March 1. At the time, DOT was unsure how they would handle funding for projects already underway in participating towns.
Recently, DOT announced that funding will cease for all projects except one – an infrastructure improvement project in Bath, said DOT’s Gateway 1 Project Manager Chris Mann on March 28.
“They were all certainly worthy efforts, but we’ve decided not to proceed,” Mann said.
Gateway 1 was suspended because “it does not correspond with the immediate priorities of this administration,” DOT Commissioner David Bernhardt wrote in the letter announcing Gateway 1’s suspension.
The stop order came at LePage’s request because he does not support the expenditure of state funds on the project at this time, said LePage’s Director of Communications Dan Demeritt.
The Governor feels that “with such constraints on our resources, we need to focus on fixing potholes, making sure bridges are sound” and other projects directly related to improving infrastructure, Demeritt said.
The Governor feels “we need paving, not planning,” Demeritt said.
All of the projects except Bath’s were deemed essentially planning projects, Mann said.
The Bath project involves preliminary engineering for projects on Rt. 1 in Bath including on-ramp improvements, access management, traffic calming and additional signage, Mann said.
The rest of the towns involved are required to submit invoices by April 20 for expenses incurred prior to March 1. Towns will be reimbursed for those expenses, Mann said.
Had they been carried to fruition, in total these projects would have cost DOT about $230,000 to $270,000, Mann said. Until all the invoices are submitted, DOT does not know how much they will be paying for the work that has been done, Mann said.
