An Act to Provide Incentives and Amend Laws Regarding Access to Protect Rural Highway Capacity and Promote Long-term Economic Development

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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 1632
H.P. 1086 House of Representatives, April 15, 2025
An Act to Provide Incentives and Amend Laws Regarding Access to
Protect Rural Highway Capacity and Promote Long-term Economic
Development
Received by the Clerk of the House on April 11, 2025. Referred to the Committee on
Transportation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative GERE of Kennebunkport.
Cosponsored by Senator PIERCE of Cumberland and
Representatives: ANKELES of Brunswick, DOUDERA of Camden, EATON of Deer Isle,
MONTELL of Gardiner, Senator: CURRY of Waldo.

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1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 23 MRSA §73-B is enacted to read:
3§73-B. Transportation planning incentive funding
4 The department shall administer a program of transportation planning incentive
5 funding as described in this section.
61. Community transportation plan. To be eligible for incentive funding under this
7 section, a municipality, on its own or in collaboration with neighboring communities, must
8 adopt a community transportation plan addressing the manner in which development along
9 state transportation corridors in the municipality or municipalities is to occur. A
10 municipality that adopts a community transportation plan shall incorporate any land use
11 development strategies recommended in the plan into its local ordinances. The community
12 transportation plan and related policies, programs and ordinances must be designed to meet
13 the objectives of the Sensible Transportation Policy Act and rules adopted pursuant to that
14 Act and to the greatest practicable extent reduce the need to make costly transportation
15 capacity and retrofitting improvements in the future. The department shall provide
16 technical assistance to municipalities in developing community transportation plans
17 through regional planning councils or other agencies or consultants designated by the
18 department. For purposes of this section, "community transportation plan" means a
19 transportation plan developed by one or more communities along a state transportation
20 corridor, including, but not limited to, a community transportation plan that is part of a
21 comprehensive plan developed pursuant to Title 30-A, chapter 187, subchapter 2 that is
22 designed to strengthen the functional viability and lengthen the long-term life of state
23 transportation corridors.
242. Transportation incentive funding. A municipality or a group of municipalities
25 may apply for transportation incentive funding under this section by submitting to the
26 department a community transportation plan including relevant policies, programs and
27 ordinances, an application for incentive funding on a form provided by the department and
28 a proposal describing the transportation improvements for which the incentive funding will
29 be used. The department shall authorize incentive funding amounts, within available funds,
30 based on a competitive rating system established by the department by rule. The
31 department shall publicize available funding at least biennially. Incentive funding must be
32 commensurate with the merits of a plan and related policies, programs and ordinances and
33 for an amount that does not exceed the estimated cost of the specific investment proposal.
34 The projected transportation-related avoided costs from implementation of the community
35 transportation plan must exceed the amount of the incentive funding as determined by the
36 department in its rating system. A municipality shall pay back to the department any
37 incentive funding provided by the department under this section if the municipality repeals
38 or revises its community transportation plan or related ordinance provisions within 10 years
39 of receipt of the incentive funding, unless the repeal or revision is approved by the
40 department.
413. Use of incentive funding. A municipality or a group of municipalities may use
42 incentive funding received pursuant to this section to:
43 A. Purchase rural lands adjacent to state highways to secure access rights; and
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1 B. Plan the development of a public way as defined by Title 29-A, section 101,
2 subsection 59 or a town way as defined in section 3021, subsection 3.
34. Rules. The department shall adopt rules to implement this section. Rules adopted
4 pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375,
5 subchapter 2-A.
6Sec. 2. 23 MRSA §704, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2013, c. 220, §1, is further
7 amended to read:
86. Access denied. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Title, the The
9 Department of Transportation and the municipalities shall deny ingress to and egress from
10 property abutting a controlled access the highway established when access rights have been
11 acquired by the department pursuant to chapter 7, except that the Commissioner of
12 Transportation may allow access for the development of state and state aid highways and
13 may allow access upon a determination by the commissioner that such access will not
14 adversely affect public safety and will not have a significant negative impact on the
15 mobility of through-travelers. The commissioner may approve or deny a relocation of an
16 existing break in a control of access consistent with the rules adopted pursuant to subsection
17 2.
18Sec. 3. 23 MRSA §704, sub-§10, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 188, §1, is amended to
19 read:
2010. Requirements waived. The department may waive the requirements of rules
21 adopted pursuant to this section and may issue a permit for a driveway when the property
22 abuts no other road affording vehicular access to a person's property and the property is
23 outside the compact area of an urban compact municipality only if the property is located
24 within a locally designated growth area identified in a state-approved comprehensive plan
25 pursuant to Title 30-A, section 4326. The department may not deny a person the right to
26 build on or to have vehicular access to property owned by that person unless the access is
27 determined inconsistent with access management safety standards. The department shall
28 coordinate all access management waivers with the Maine Redevelopment Land Bank
29 Authority established in Title 30-A, section 5154 and the Maine Office of Community
30 Affairs established in Title 5, section 3202.
31Sec. 4. Funding. The Department of Transportation shall solicit municipal incentive
32 funding applications under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 23, section 73-B beginning in
33 fiscal year 2026-27 and shall identify suitable sources for providing incentive funding
34 beginning in fiscal year 2027-28. Funding must be derived from funds available under the
35 Department of Transportation's quality communities initiative programs.
36SUMMARY
37 This bill reinstates that all state highways, rather than only controlled access highways,
38 are subject to Department of Transportation access management rules. The bill stipulates
39 that the department may waive access management rules and issue a permit for a driveway
40 only if the property is located within a locally designated growth area identified in a state-
41 approved comprehensive plan.
42 The bill also reestablishes the program within the Department of Transportation, which
43 is to be funded on a pilot project basis, to provide technical assistance and incentive grants
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44 to municipalities to prevent new development along state highways and reduce the cost of
45 future highway improvement projects. The bill specifies an incentive funding grant may
46 be used to purchase rural lands adjacent to the highways to secure access rights and to plan
47 the development of a public way or a town way within a municipality.
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