5/3/04-Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill into law last month allowing the Maine Department of Transportation to borrow $50 million from grant-anticipated revenue vehicle bonds to pay for the replacement of the Waldo-Hancock Bridge.
The GARVEE bonds are to be repaid with annual federal transportation appropriations and state matching funds when the next fiscal year begins in July.
In addition, Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, R-ME, and Congressman Michael Michaud, D-ME, recently announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has released $2.3 million to go toward the bridge project on U.S. Route 1 in southeast Maine.
Those funds are part of a $4 million grant awarded by the Federal Highway Administration under the fiscal year 2004 Transportation and Treasury Appropriations.
The remainder of the grant for the construction of the new Penobscot River crossing, replacing the 72-year-old suspension bridge, will be released later in the year.
The projected cost of the bridge is $75 million.

3/12/04-Truckers, tourists and other drivers traveling through southeast Maine could soon pay for a new span to replace the Waldo-Hancock Bridge on U.S. Route 1.
A toll is one way state lawmakers could finance the construction of the new Penobscot River crossing, replacing the 72-year-old suspension bridge, the Portland Press Herald reported. Another proposal would ask lawmakers to borrow money on the assumption the state would get federal funds in the future.
These approaches, which state lawmakers and transportation officials have started to discuss, would impact bridge and road projects statewide.
Without a plan to finance the concrete and cable bridge, the Maine Transportation Department would have to use funds set aside for smaller projects.
Gov. John Baldacci and lawmakers must come up with as much as $65 million to pay for the cable-stay bridge, which is under construction.
Members of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee have had some informal discussions about putting a toll at the new bridge.
According to the Press Herald, the DOT and Baldacci view tolls as a last option. Instead, transportation officials will recommend the use of grant anticipation revenue vehicles, commonly known as GARVEE bonds.
This federal program allows the state to sell bonds to pay for the bridge. The sale is based on the assumption that federal funding in future years would pay off the bonds. This allows the state to get money needed for the project up front.
The Legislature will decide whether the state should pay for the bridge with the bonds.
In the meantime, transportation officials are watching Congress to see if a six-year transportation reauthorization bill passes. It could bring additional money for the new bridge, reducing the amount the state has to make up.