By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

A $104.6 billion Transportation and Housing and Urban Development
Appropriations Bill, passed by the U.S. Senate on Sept. 12, includes
$500,000 for South Portland’s I-295, Exit 4 improvement project, but
city officials will likely have to wait until next month to see if the
earmark will translate into real dollars.

While the Senate bill proposes more than $5 million in funding for
Maine projects in the 2008 fiscal year, not all of those projects are
represented in the House of Representatives’ version of the bill,
passed on July 24.

Kevin Kelley, a spokesman for Sen. Susan Collins’ (R-ME) office said
the House version of the bill does not include the South Portland
project. Both bills will be presented at a joint conference of Senate
and House members within the next few weeks and Kelley said the
conference is a “negotiation process” to determine what the final bill
will include.

“Senator Collins believes this is a vital project for South Portland
and the economy of that area and she will fight to see that funding is
included in the final version of the bill,” Kelley said.

Collins and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) both voted in favor of the bill, which was approved by a vote of 88 to 7.

The scope of South Portland’s project includes the creation of a southbound on ramp at Exit 4.

“What we’re looking to do is access the interstate heading south from
the Route One and Lincoln Street area,” said South Portland Acting City
Manager Jim Gailey.

Gailey said the southbound ramp would help divert petroleum trucks and
other trucks away from Route One (Main Street) and Broadway and provide
more straightforward access to the Maine Turnpike.

Mayor Claude Morgan and former City Manager Ted Jankowski traveled to
Washington D.C. in the spring to advocate for $500,000 in federal funds
for preliminary engineering and design work for the project.

Gailey said the city hasn’t pursued federal funds previously because
within the last five to 10 years, it has been fortunate to obtain funds
from the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Portland
Area Comprehensive Transportation Committee (PACTS). He pointed to the
Exit 3, Western Avenue and Payne Road projects as examples of the
city’s success with those funding sources.  

“One of my mayoral agendas – was to strengthen relationships and
commerce with state and federal delegates,” Morgan said of pursuing
federal money. “We are an economic engine of the region and therefore
when economic considerations are made at those levels, we should be
involved in them.”

According to a March 2007 presentation created by Morgan and Jankowski,
“the inability to access I-295 forces over 344,000 tanker trucks each
year, carrying a large variety of volatile petroleum products, into
residential neighborhoods.”

Morgan said moving the transportation of petroleum off crowded streets
is a matter of homeland security and a matter of creating more
efficient economic opportunities for the state and New England. He said
their presentation to congressional delegates emphasized South Portland
as a major port for oil and the necessity for the “smooth flow of
energy from pumps to highway,” as it has a benefit for the region.

“New Hampshire gets so much of their heating oil straight out of our
terminals,” Morgan said. “The last thing that New Hampshire wants is a
bottleneck.”

Morgan said their day of meetings, presentations and telephone calls
including visits with regional delegates from New Hampshire and
Massachusetts to educate them about the project’s impact.  

 According to Morgan and Jankowski’s presentation, MDOT estimates the total project cost to be $6 million.

However, Gailey said the estimate is outdated and the design plan will need to be completed before the cost can be determined.