New turnpike director outlines goals for Maine's 'economic backbone'

Yahoo

5 hours ago

Jul. 7—When Andre Briere became executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority in April, he knew he was hired to fix it.
After three months on the job, he's got a long to-do list and a two-year action plan that kicks off in August. It will focus on improving the 109-mile toll highway as "the main thing," he says, and avoid distractions from the authority's core mission, like the controversial Gorham Connector proposal that put the agency "through the wringer" last year.
The list includes reviving transparency and trust in the authority, increasing digital technology, security and automation at toll plazas and improving service plazas with updated bathrooms, children's play areas and new dining options, which could include Chick-fil-A, Shake Shack and local chefs that would highlight Maine's farm-to-table restaurant scene.
Getting rid of the turnpike authority — something opponents have espoused lately and the goal of several failed bills in the last legislative session — isn't on Briere's list for all the reasons he says the agency benefits the state and its residents. That includes where most of the $170 million in tolls, or 89% of the agency's revenue for a $192 million budget, came from last year.
"Almost two-thirds of our toll revenue comes from out-of-staters," Briere said. "There's no cheaper way for Mainers to run the economic backbone of the state. It would be financially ruinous for the state of Maine if you changed that."
Briere, 57, started at the authority one month after the board of directors dumped the Gorham Connector proposal, leaving it to the Maine Department of Transportation to solve commuter congestion west of Portland. The four-lane toll road would have run from the recently rebuilt turnpike Exit 45 in South Portland, through Westbrook and Scarborough, to the Gorham Bypass at Route 114 in Gorham. A survey conducted by the authority showed the tide of public opinion had ebbed against the connector and the agency itself after spending more than 20 years and $18 million planning and developing the $331 million project.
Briere describes the connector proposal as a well-intentioned effort that the authority took on because the Department of Transportation couldn't afford it. While the authority maintains just 577 lane miles of Interstate 95 from Kittery to Augusta, the department looks after 47,248 lane miles of roads across the state.
"The DOT struggles to find funding to do projects," he said. "They turned to the turnpike authority to do the connector project and our existence was threatened in the Legislature as a result."
It's a misfire Briere doesn't intend to repeat. He's committed to bolstering confidence and trust in the authority and emphasizing transparency and openness with the public, he said. He also wants to make sure the authority's 400 employees are empowered to do their best work after a report last year found that a climate of intimidation and favoritism had been fostered by former chief financial officer Doug Davidson, who left the agency in 2023.
"You have to really listen to people, even opponents, and take in their input," he said. "I'm here to serve the people of Maine and make sure the turnpike is the most efficient, modern and innovative highway of its kind in the country."
SEPARATE BUT WORKING TOGETHER
Briere replaced Peter Mills, the longtime executive director who led the connector project before retiring in September. He took the reins as opponents of the 5-mile toll spur pitched legislation aimed taking control of the authority's spending and project planning powers and folding the agency into the Department of Transportation — something that's been tried unsuccessfully more than 25 times in the past.
That's a bad idea, according to Briere, whose last job was deputy commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, which operates a turnpike system stretching over 90 miles.
Because New Hampshire's three turnpikes are funded by legislators through the state budget, Briere said the process of raising tolls and allocating revenue for highway projects is politicized, and elected officials do what they can to avoid upsetting taxpayers.
Last spring, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte dismissed senators' calls to increase tolls for the first time in 15 years. As a result, "there's no money for capital spending in New Hampshire's turnpike budget for the coming year," Briere said.
Without regular reinvestment in turnpike infrastructure — bridges, toll plazas, air conditioners — the viability of the system diminishes, Briere said, and if tolls don't cover turnpike needs, the system becomes increasingly dependent on taxes. That kind of uncertainty can lower a state's bond rating and increase the cost of borrowing, he said.
The Maine Turnpike Authority is somewhat insulated from that process because it's a separate state agency created by the Legislature in 1941 to finance and build the turnpike through toll collection. When the initial bonds were paid off in 1982, the Legislature decided the authority should continue to operate and maintain the turnpike.
While no federal or state tax dollars have ever been used on the turnpike, the authority has paid the Maine Department of Transportation $5.4 million to $9.5 million annually since 2011 for work on cooperative projects. They include the $42 million Saco interchange set to open this year, the Sarah Mildred Long and Piscataqua River bridge projects, and planned investments in public transit initiatives in Greater Portland.
Briere said he's an advocate for public transit, but he believes it can only be successful if roads aren't mired in commuter gridlock. And he believes it's impossible to stop people from moving outside metropolitan areas, especially as developers continue to build housing and real estate values continue to rise.
The authority's contribution the Department of Transportation represented at least 5% of turnpike toll revenue each year, Briere said, and he'll be looking for ways to increase collaboration on projects in the future.
"We're better off being separate but working together," he said.
BALANCING EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY
A Seattle native with New England roots, Briere is a 29-year Air Force veteran who retired as a colonel in 2019 with a breadth of international experience in transportation, logistics, emergency management and large-scale project leadership. He is married with two adult children.
He admits his military experience likely will help fulfill his action plan for the authority, including digital upgrades in the wake of an E-ZPass shutdown for 12 hours in March that avoided a security breach.
The plan calls for providing much smaller E-ZPass sticker tags instead of the current transponders within a year; offering a Maine Turnpike app so E-ZPass users can manage accounts more easily online within two years; and making it possible for drivers to pay tolls with credit cards.
"We'll also operate with the general philosophy of keeping tolls low or flat for Maine E-ZPass users," Briere said, noting that those drivers received nearly $11 million in toll discounts in 2024.
With the move toward greater automation, the authority may see a further reduction in toll plaza staffing, which has fallen from nearly 400 to about 175 in the last 20 years. However, given the problems that other turnpike systems have experienced when electronic toll systems go offline, Briere said he doesn't see a time when the Maine Turnpike is fully automated.
"There's always a balance between effectiveness and efficiency," he said.
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