Part VII: Winds of Change

Last of seven parts

This year, for the first time since the beginning of construction of the interstate highway system, transportation planners throughout the country who use federal funds must consider alternatives to new road-building projects.

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, which became law on Dec. 18, 1991, has been described as a $151 billion reinvestment in the nation’s transportation infrastructure. The law stipulates that future transportation needs must be met by creating more efficient systems than highways traversed largely by vehicles with a single occupant.

In Maine, efforts were under way before the new funding bill was signed into law to bring back passenger trains. TrainRiders/Northeast, a train-support group based in Portland, initiated a petition that called for state government to make every effort to pave the way for the institution of passenger trains by 1993.

On Tuesday, the state Department of Transportation decided that Amtrak, the national passenger train corporation, offered the best proposal to restore passenger-train service in Maine. The state agency had solicited proposals for train service earlier in response to the citizen petition.

Russell Spinney, deputy commissioner of transportation and one of the key state government officials involved in railroad issues, said before the choice was announced that the DOT was “making every effort” to comply with the petitioners’ wishes. At that time, transit planners were assessing two proposals to provide the state’s first Maine-to-Boston rail-passenger service since the early 1960s.

Spinney said Amtrak was the first to make a proposal by offering to establish a three-train-a-day schedule between Boston and Portland. The $49 million price tag — $30 million for track renovation and $19 million for equipment — would have to be provided as an “upfront cost,” the DOT spokesman said.

Amtrak projected a first-year operating loss of $3.5 million. The sponsoring agency, which might be the governments of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, would have to pay 45 percent of that expense. In succeeding years, the percentage would change, with the sponsors paying more, Spinney said.

A little later, Guilford Transportation Industries, parent of Springfield Terminal Railway Co., made a proposal to operate four trains a day between Boston and Waterville. The upfront cost for that service was $35 million, but no amount was specified for equipment. Guilford proposed to rebuild equipment for the service in its Waterville shop, thereby employing Maine people in a Maine transportation project.

Spinney said that because Amtrak is in the passenger-train business it seemed that it would be able to acquire insurance at minimal cost. Guilford, on the other hand, owns the track and now that Amtrak has been chosen, negotiations will have to be carried out with the owner for use of the track.

“We’re moving forward on the proposals as fast as we can,” Spinney said. “We’re trying to get money from the federal side for the service.”

Recreation enthusiasts also stand to benefit from the comprehensive new federal legislation. ISTEA provides $3.4 billion from 1992 to 1997 for a variety of “transportation-enhancement activities,” including the creation of rail-trails and preservation of railroad structures.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s president, David Burwell, said recently that the passage of the funding bill indicated that “the winds of change are definitely blowing in our favor.”

New trails are created when a public agency purchases an abandoned railroad line, removes the rails and ties, and puts down a crushed stone or asphalt surface. In January, there were 446 rail-trails in 42 states. The total length of the trail system was 4,907 miles.

Maine has several abandoned rail lines which might offer potential for such trails. One — the 127-mile track route between Brewer and Calais — has been out of service since 1985 when it was purchased by the state. So far, the DOT has been unable to find a suitable operator to restore freight trains on the line.

The state will receive $17,934,072 in transportation-enhancement funds from ISTEA over six years to apply to projects such as the creation of trails. Larger states, such as California and Texas, will receive $300,877,936 and $228,047,048, respectively.

Many other projects have been proposed or are under way. In Houston, highway planners tried out the concept of special lanes for high-occupany vehicles in 1979. Most of the Texas city’s HOV facilities are located in freeway medians with an average width of 20 feet and are separated from other traffic by concrete barriers. Only vehicles with several occupants are permitted in the lane, reducing congestion in other travel lanes.

The Houston system is described by the Surface Transportation Policy Project as “one of the most cost-effective means of people-moving on the region’s roads without adding lanes.”

The new funding bill is expected to provide a variety of transportation options during the last years of the 20th century.