U.S. DOT rep. to visit aging Memorial Bridge
PORTSMOUTH - A high-ranking U.S. Department of
Transportation representative will join transportation leaders at Memorial
Bridge on Friday for a meeting officials hope will boost New Hampshire's
chances of obtaining federal stimulus money to help replace the deteriorating
structure.
Efforts to secure funding for the bridge cleared one hurdle on Wednesday when
members of the New Hampshire Senate voted to approve an amendment to the
Department of Transportation's ten-year-plan that seeks to allow the DOT to
seek up to $45 million in additional bonds to replace Memorial Bridge.
News of the Senate approval of the bonds comes as stakeholders prepare for a
visit from an official in charge of approving federal grants that will be
crucial in supplementing state moneys for a bridge project.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy Joel Szabat will tour the
bridge and talk with leaders about how they might best craft an application
that state officials say will seek an estimated $20 million in federal funding
through a second round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic
Recovery (TIGER) grants.
The meeting was spearheaded by U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine and U.S.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and follows ongoing discussions between
elected officials and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood.
Representatives for Sen. Collins said Szabat is expected to meet with officials
at the bridge and outline the TIGER grant process to help the states and local
partners produce the strongest grant application possible.
Shaheen called Memorial Bridge "critical" to the economy and quality
of life in many Seacoast communities.
"I am hopeful that Friday's meeting will be an opportunity for New
Hampshire stakeholders to make the second round TIGER grant application as
competitive as possible, and I will continue to closely follow this issue in
the months ahead," Shaheen said.
NH Department of Transportation Project Manager Bob Landry said New Hampshire
continues to take a lead role in attempting to find the funding necessary to
replace Memorial Bridge, which has been deteriorating for years.
New Hampshire and Maine transportation leaders and stakeholders are continuing
with a connections study that seeks to find the most feasible options for
addressing problems with the aging Memorial Bridge and the Sarah Mildred Long
Bridge.
The states combined to submit a $70 million request to rehabilitate Memorial
Bridge in an initial round of TIGER grants, but learned in February that their
project had not been among those selected for $1.5 billion in available
funding.
Since then Maine transportation leaders have informed New Hampshire officials
that they do not immediately have the funding to support addressing problems
with Memorial Bridge in time for the states to apply for a second round of
TIGER grants that offers $600 million in available funds.
Landry said discussions with federal DOT officials indicated the Maine-New
Hampshire joint application narrowly missed out on being approved for the first
round on TIGER funding and he expressed hope that a meeting with Szabat might
assist them in developing a proposal that has a better chance at being approved
for funding.
The pre-application deadline for the second round of TIGER grant funding comes
on July 16 with the final proposal due by Aug. 23.
The lack of funding from Maine has New Hampshire officials working hard to
determine how they might fund what is looking more and more like a project to
replace rather than rehabilitate the 86-year-old Memorial Bridge.
Landry said recent structural inspections of the bridge show a rehab project
would require the bridge to essentially be moved in order to conduct necessary
repairs - an option he noted would most likely be cost prohibitive.
The project manager said current goals have New Hampshire transportation
officials looking to secure the estimated $100 million necessary to replace the
bridge, though Landry confirmed the two states have yet to officially reach
consensus on whether a new bridge would simply be a pedestrian bridge or a
structure accommodating vehicles.
Landry said his department has $35 million in funding allocated for the bridge,
but he noted that State Senator Martha Fuller Clark (D-Portsmouth) recently
proposed an amendment to the DOT's ten year plan that would allow an additional
$45 million in funding for the bridge through a Garvee Bond.
Fuller Clark said the amendment was approved by a nearly unanimous voice vote
by the full Senate on Wednesday and will need to be passed by the House.
Fuller Clark and Senator Robert Letourneau - the chair of the Senate
Transportation Committee - expressed confidence on Wednesday that they have the
support in the House necessary for the $45 million in bonds to be passed.
Officials hope the balance of the cost of a bridge replacement would come in
the way of $20 million in TIGER funding.
Landry said approval of the Garvee Bond by the legislature must come before New
Hampshire legislators break for the summer as the deadline for the TIGER grant
pre-application is due by mid-July.
Officials say New Hampshire will not bid out a possible Memorial Bridge project
until they reach an agreement with Maine officials that will see New Hampshire
being compensated for allocating funds for a bridge whose costs are the
responsibility of both states.
"We need an agreement with Maine to do any work on the Maine side,"
Landry said.
Landry said New Hampshire would essentially be fronting the money for Maine
with that state having to agree to come up with a formal agreement for how it
might be repaid.
"It could be as simple as when we do the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge, they
will front some of our costs," Landry said.
Memorial Bridge is currently amid a process that has the aging structure being
inspected twice a year.
The bridge's weight limits have been dropped repeatedly in recent time as a
result of its deterioration and has been given a one- to three-year life span
if it is not repaired.
"It's getting to be in bad shape structurally. I think we are closer to
the one year than we are to the three years," Landry said of the bridge's
life span.
Portsmouth City Councilor Ken Smith said the upkeep of Sarah Mildred Long and
Memorial Bridge should be paramount as they represent vital corridors between
Kittery and Portsmouth.
Smith noted the bridges provide access to Portsmouth for those traveling up
Route 1 and is crucial in getting workers to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
"It's vital to businesses at either end. If something happens to those
bridges that would put our working port in jeopardy," Smith said.