Three rail projects that are part of the Amtrak Downeaster’s expansion to Brunswick failed to make the cut for the latest round of federal transportation grant funding, but officials say the setback won’t affect plans for extending passenger rail to Brunswick in 2012 or to build a train maintenance facility in town.
Funding for the Downeaster expansion projects, totaling about $20 million, was not listed Thursday among grant recipients for the latest disbursement of federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program.
Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA), which applied for the Maine rail grants, told The Times Record on Thursday that she was disappointed with the news but that the process “ was extremely competitive” this year.
A release from the U. S. Department of Transportation indicates that around $ 14.3 billion in funding requests were submitted for a pool of $ 511 million in awards.
Quinn said that $5 million from NNEPRA and $20 million in grant dollars would have:
— Provided funding to build a 60,000- square- foot train maintenance facility at a site between Stanwood Street and Church Road in Brunswick.
— Created a special Y intersection in Portland that Quinn said would allow trains arriving in Portland to leave for Brunswick without backing out of the station, reducing travel time.
— Increased train capacity at the Royal Junction between Portland and Brunswick.
Quinn said Thursday’s announcement has not changed any plans for the projects and that NNEPRA will continue to seek other sources of funding.
Quinn said that NNEPRA would apply for the next round of TIGER grants. She did not identify other potential sources of funds for the planned projects Thursday.
An advisory group overseeing design plans for a train maintenance facility in Brunswick will continue as planned toward an April deadline for making recommendations to rail authority’s board of directors, Quinn said Thursday.
“We want to be in a position that by the end of April we know what kind of building we’re going to build and what the exact cost is going to be,” Quinn said.
dfishell@timesrecord.com / @darrenfishell
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