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Maine: Maine Department Of Transportation

March 31, 2009 - 09:01 pm
NEWS FEED: Bangor Daily News

Delegation wants trucks off local streets

By Kevin Miller

AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine’s elected officials are continuing their campaigns for a federal exemption that would allow heavy tractor-trailers to use Interstate 95 rather than have to drive on back roads and through downtown areas.

Maine’s congressional delegation has been battling unsuccessfully for years to convince their colleagues in Washington, D.C., to allow trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds to stay on I-95 north of Augusta. Currently, trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds must switch to local roads after leaving the Maine Turnpike, which is exempt.

In his latest attempt at an exemption, Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, introduced a bill that would give states the authority to set weight limits in the interstate system in order to make them consistent with surrounding states.

Read More at Bangor Daily News >
There have been 57 comments posted in response to this story.

March 18, 2009 - 09:42 am
NEWS FEED: Bangor Daily News

Bangor to reroute traffic for trucks

By Eric Russell

BANGOR, Maine — Big changes are coming soon to the traffic pattern on Main Street in Bangor.

The city, in conjunction with the Maine Department of Transportation, has designed a plan to help vehicles — especially large trucks — bypass downtown Bangor more easily.

As it is now, vehicles traveling north on Main Street toward the city center have to take a sharp right-hand turn onto Railroad Street followed by an immediate sharp left onto Summer Street.

If that seems easy enough, try it in an 18-wheeler. “It’s a little dicey,” City Engineer Jim Ring said.

With the proposed changes, the city will reroute that traffic onto Cedar Street, which is a block farther in on Main Street next to the new Bangor police station.

Read More at Bangor Daily News >
There have been 26 comments posted in response to this story.

February 24, 2009 - 09:00 pm
NEWS FEED: Bangor Daily News

With stimulus cash coming, DOT unveils project list

By Kevin Miller

AUGUSTA, Maine — State transportation officials on Tuesday unveiled the list of road and bridge projects that will receive a portion of the estimated $162 million in federal stimulus money coming to Maine.

The projects are located throughout the state and range from a $35,000 paving job in Pittsfield to the $35 million resurfacing of the northbound lanes of Interstate 295.

One of the key factors that the Maine Department of Transportation considered was how quickly work could begin on the projects, officials said Tuesday.

But DOT Commissioner David Cole cautioned that the stimulus money will only go so far. Maine faces an estimated $3 billion funding gap for highway projects over the next decade.

Read More at Bangor Daily News >
There have been 26 comments posted in response to this story.

February 6, 2009 - 09:02 pm
NEWS FEED: Bangor Daily News

Lawmakers start to deal with budget

By Kevin Miller

AUGUSTA, Maine — Lawmakers on Monday will begin the sobering business of deciding how to spread the economic pain around state government as they delve into a proposed budget that cuts funding to most agencies and eliminates hundreds of jobs.

Lawmakers have scheduled four weeks of public hearings on the Baldacci administration’s proposal for dealing with an estimated $838 million hole in the 2-year budget that begins this July.

Click to see a .pdf document of the public hearing schedule.

Those hearings, which are before the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, begin Monday in the State House and are expected to run through at least March 6.

Read More at Bangor Daily News >
There have been 31 comments posted in response to this story.