FARMINGTON – The first of two local Maine Department of Transportation sessions to gather the public’s opinion was held Wednesday afternoon. A second “Talk Transportation” session is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday night at the University of Maine at Farmington’s North Dining Hall in the student center.
The sessions are part of a series of 40 regional public meetings held throughout the state towards formulating the Long-Range Transportation Needs Assessment, which documents the anticipated needs for the next 20 years.
Projects are scheduled in three-year increments and are updated on a yearly basis. Typically, in a three-year period, $2 billion will fund more than 1,900 projects statewide.
At the meetings, MDOT officials discuss their programs and funding, administer a survey questionnaire using clickers for anonymous interactive participation by attendees and offer a good amount for questions and discussion.
“We’re hearing a lot of different things from different folks,” Scott Rollins MDOT’s outreach office director told about a dozen residents and town officials attending the afternoon session. “We want to hear what the needs are, what concerns you have.”
Among the concerns raised was why the state’s Local Road Assistance Program allocation to help small towns with road repairs dropped by 1 percent, how road work is prioritized, the application process for bike lane consideration and if more public transportation funding is possible.
Rollins noted, overall, the state’s revenue for roads, which is generated through a gas tax is down because of the more energy efficient vehicles on the road. Prioritizing road projects is a process that takes into consideration several factors including the road’s condition and traffic volume. The best time for towns to apply for bike lane creation is when the road is already scheduled for MDOT repair.
On transportation funding, “we’ve heard from a lot of folks: ‘we want more transit,'” Rollins said.
