Twenty Year Transportation Plan 2000-2020
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TWENTY YEAR TRANSPORTATION PLAN 2000 - 2020 KEEPING MAINE MOVING JANUARY 2001 Print Date: January 6, 2001 Keeping Maine Moving Twenty Year Transportation Plan 2000-2020 CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................... 3 1.0 Shaping the Future................................................................................................. 5 1.1 The Changing Paradigm.............................................................................. 5 1.2 Mandates ..................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Evolution of the Planning Process .............................................................. 9 1.4 Stakeholders in the Process....................................................................... 12 1.5 Organizational Changes............................................................................ 16 2.0 Where Are We Now/Where Are We Going.................................................... 17 2.1 The Demand for Transportation................................................................ 17 2.2 Maine’s Transportation System ................................................................ 25 2.3 Passenger Transportation .......................................................................... 31 2.4 Freight Transportation............................................................................... 40 3.0 Getting There.......................................................................................................... 47 3.1 Highway Preservation and Improvement.................................................. 47 3.2 Bridge Rehabilitation and Replacement.................................................... 55 3.3 System Management ................................................................................. 56 3.4 Passenger Transportation .......................................................................... 58 3.5 Freight Transportation............................................................................... 62 3.6 Maintenance and Operations Environmental Programs............................ 65 3.7 Land Use, Economic & Community Development .................................. 65 4.0 Funding.................................................................................................................... 71 4.1 Trends in Transportation Finance ............................................................. 72 4.2 Long Term Funding Outlook 4.3 Financing the Plan..................................................................................... 73 4.4 Transportation Financing Options............................................................. 74 4.5 Resource Allocation .................................................................................. 77 Appendix ........................................................................................................................ 80 Glossary of Terms ................................................................................................. 80 Summary of Metropolitan Planning Organization Plans ...................................... 84 Service Center Communities................................................................................. 89 Plans Incorporated by Reference........................................................................... 90 Comments and Responses to the Draft of this Plan .............................................. 91 Maine Department of Transportation 20 Year Plan Page 1 Keeping Maine Moving Twenty Year Transportation Plan 2000-2020 Maine Department of Transportation 20 Year Plan Page 2 Keeping Maine Moving Twenty Year Transportation Plan 2000-2020 Introduction This is a technical revision based to Maine’s 20 Year Transportation Plan. This revision is necessary to address modified requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Ammendment. The previous version of this plan was developed with public participation and written during 1998. A draft version was released, reviewed and commented upon by Maine citizens later in the year. That document was prepared under two mandates: a federal regulation contained in the Transportation Equity Act of the Tyenty-first Century (TEA-21), which is the applicable federal legislation, and a state rule adopted pursuant to the Sensible Transportation Policy Act of 1991. This plan has four chapters. In the first, entitled Shaping the Future, the forces at work to shape transportation plans are reviewed. Some of the topics include: the federal and state statutory and regulatory environment state plans and goals the Maine transportation planning process. Chapter 2, Where Are We Now / Where Are We Going, describes the current conditions of the transportation infrastructure and outlines some of the factors likely to affect future performance. Chapter 3 is entitled Getting There, and describes the steps to be taken to meet the goals discussed in Chapter 1 and addresses the needs presented in Chapter 2. The final chapter, Funding, reviews this important consideration and poses some questions concerning the transportation revenue stream and how it might be enhanced. Maine Department of Transportation 20 Year Plan Page 3 Keeping Maine Moving Twenty Year Transportation Plan 2000-2020 Maine Department of Transportation 20 Year Plan Page 4 Keeping Maine Moving Chapter One – Shaping the Future 1.0 SHAPING THE FUTURE 1.1 The Changing Paradigm In 1990, a milestone in the evolution of Maine’s transportation policy was realized by the preparation of the State’s first long range transportation plan: Transportation to the Year 2000. This plan, which gave comprehensive consideration to all modes of transportation, provided the basis for a process of forging a truly intermodal transportation system for the state. It was recognized then that long range capital planning for transportation is a continuous effort and that the plan should be viewed as a snapshot in time reflecting current knowledge and understanding rather than as a final statement. As new plans are prepared, new insights are gained that raise new issues requiring further exploration and public debate. Soon after the development of that initial plan, several changes in state and federal transportation planning and policy The adoption of took place. Two of the most significant events contributing to federal ISTEA and TEA 21 this change occurred in 1991. At the federal level, landmark legislation and Maine’s legislation known as the Intermodal Surface Transportation STPA significantly Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), established a new vision for changed transportation surface transportation in America and significantly changed the planning in Maine. direction of national and state transportation policy. In June 1998 Congressional action on the reauthorization of ISTEA resulted in new national federal transportation legislation: the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21). At the state level, through a 1991 voter referendum, Maine’s Sensible Transportation Policy Act (STPA) was enacted. STPA, and the Rule which was developed to implement it, created a planning process that has significant public involvement and gives proper consideration to the diverse transportation needs of the people of the state, transportation efficiency, energy conservation, and the effects of transportation on the environment. In 1995, the MDOT updated its long range transportation plan to be consistent with the goals and requirements of these important new transportation policies. This document was called the Statewide 20 Year Transportation Plan and will be hereafter referred to as the 2000 20 Year Plan. Most recently, the MDOT has adopted its first Strategic Plan which redefines the Department’s mission and sets out three broad goals it will follow to achieve that mission. The goals of these federal and state policies are shown along with MDOT’s Strategic Plan goals in a table called ‘Transportation Goals for Maine’. The goals in that table are the basis for this plan. Maine Department of Transportation 20 Year Plan Page 5 Keeping Maine Moving Chapter One – Shaping the Future 1.1.1 MDOT’s Strategic Plan The Department’s Strategic Plan was developed in collaboration with the Governor’s Office and in consultation with the Legislature. It clearly defines the many challenges the MDOT faces as it moves into the next century. Some of the Strategic Plan is concerned with basic, internal topics such as improving safety for Department employees, and streamlining the administrative and operational functioning of the organization. Other parts of the Strategic Plan are focused on the public role of the MDOT. An excerpt of that plan is presented below because it establishes a framework and basis for the decisions that have led to the development of the transportation policy recommendations contained in this plan: “The ability of the Department of Transportation to carry out its mission is impacted by a variety of trends, conditions, problems and opportunities. Simply stated, our most dramatic challenge is that our infrastructure is aging. Roads, bridges, rail lines and other facilities that were built decades ago are now reaching, or have surpassed, their life expectancies. In many cases this translates into the reality that repairs and rehabilitation are no longer appropriate; the time has come for many replacement and reconstruction projects. This is especially true for a significant number of major bridges