Visitors and residents of Maine count on the New England 511 website for real-time road and weather conditions, and a recent makeover could help even more people navigate their travels.

The website is now more mobile-friendly, helping drivers through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont view the fall colors. It provides links to live cameras, construction alerts and traffic warnings.

Paul Merrill, director of communications for the Maine Department of Transportation, said the website gives users a heads-up, whether they are on vacation or making their daily commute.

"You might roll out of bed and say, 'Oh, there's a tree down on the road that I take to the office. It's going to take me a little extra time to get to work,' " Merrill noted.

The website address remains the same, but because of extensive changes, current users of NewEngland511.org will have to create a new account to continue receiving email or text notifications. Merrill said the "MyTrips" alerts generated by the old website will stop on Oct. 23.

Individual alerts will now come from a system called "My 511," with the goals of alleviating not only congestion, but the air pollution that comes with it.

Merrill pointed out the site is both old and new, with links to state permits for parks as well as information on bicycling through New England and where to find electric vehicle charging stations.

"Poke around, see what features are there, there's a lot," Merrill urged. "Kick the tires, see what's there, as you go in and set up a new alert."

He added it takes only a few minutes to set up a new account, which could save a lot of time down the road.

And the website is not only for road travelers. It lists all state and regional airports and flight information, as well as important details regarding train travel throughout New England and its extensive walking trails.

Merrill emphasized riders of Maine's ferry service, for example, can get important updates.

"That's really the quickest way to get information from the department if there's a ferry run that's canceled or delayed," Merrill stressed. "They are a big user base here."

The new website arrives as construction is expected to increase throughout New England due to new federal funding from President Joe Biden's infrastructure law, which designates some $400 billion over five years to help repair the nation's roads and bridges.

Washington state is receiving nearly $90 million in federal infrastructure funding, from the Biden Administration. The funds were distributed by the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE program and will boost eight projects in Washington.

One recipient is the Kitsap County Public Transportation Authority, which is using the grant money to upgrade its transportation hub and clean up its bus fleet.

John Clauso, executive director of Kitsap Transit, said they're constructing a full-service maintenance facility, and not only to work on their diesel buses.

"Also, we're in the transition phase of converting all of our buses to battery electric buses, as well as we're exploring and wanting to move into the hydrogen fuel cell technology," he said.

The project is receiving $17 million from the RAISE program. It will help Kitsap Transit in its goals of a fully electrified fleet by 2050. Kitsap Transit serves Kitsap, Clallam, King, Jefferson and Snohomish counties.

Clauson said the grant is also helping with the purchase of electric double decker buses, which are needed for the increasing demand Kitsap Transit is seeing. He said the funds from the RAISE program are critically important to moving this project forward.

"The facility that we've put in for fueling and the bus-washing - that is all designed for a double deck coach that we have no where to maintain one. So, we've held off on the acquisition of double deck buses simply because we don't have a facility that we could maintain those buses in," he said.

The RAISE program is distributing funds from the infrastructure law passed in 2021. The eight Washington state projects were part of a larger announcement from the U.S. Transportation Department about its distribution of $1.8 billion in funds to nearly 150 projects across the country.


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Electric-vehicle owners in North Dakota have long called for more action to boost the state's charging station network. There continues to be mixed messages policy-wise, but officials are moving forward on funding opportunities.

As part of federal funding awarded to all states, North Dakota is now taking applications for private entities to tap into these dollars and place fast-charging stations along Interstates 94 and 29.

Russ Buchholz, innovation manager with the North Dakota Department of Transportation, said a lack of these options has kept North Dakota's EV adoption rate low. But he hopes this latest step will inspire more confidence among current owners, as well as other consumers.

"If they know they can travel through our state pretty much at ease, and these are Level 3 chargers -- so it would take roughly about 15 minutes, maybe a half-hour to charge their vehicle -- I think there'll be a little acceptance," he explained.

Buchholz added this might convince more out-state-travelers to pass through North Dakota. The federal program pays up to 80% of project costs, but state lawmakers heavily restricted government agencies, including municipalities, from participating.

Separately, Gov. Doug Burgum has publicly criticized the movement, but ultimately agreed for the state to join regional planning for EV infrastructure.

In an oil-producing state with a largely rural backdrop, Buchholz admits opinions on EVs can be strong. He said if not enough applicants come forward to construct and own privately operated charging stations, they'll have to go back to the Legislature in hopes government agencies will get their chance.

"And that would allow, I'll say, a little more freedom and maybe a better partnership, " Buchholz continued.

No matter the political appetite, Buchholz predicts more of the transportation sector will be running on electric sources in the future. That's even with North Dakota now having fewer than one thousand registered EVs. He pointed to other developments -- such as construction equipment maker Bobcat producing electric machinery in Bismarck -- as examples that might help win over skeptics.


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Representatives from Union Pacific Railroad will attend a town hall meeting in Council Bluffs tomorrow night to hear about the so-called "triangle of death" being created by the alignment and traffic on some of its tracks.

The chronically blocked tracks are frustrating to residents but also potentially deadly, some residents said. Council Bluffs used to be home to eight rail companies. They've consolidated to four, but there are still 48 crossings in town and people in about 50 homes are trapped by tracks on two sides.

Andrew Whitehill, a resident of Council Bluffs, said he sees drivers every day create dangerous situations in a residential area where children are playing.

"'I can't afford to get stuck at this train,'" Whitehill said drivers are thinking. "They'll see the train coming and will then drive a few blocks down and try to speed past it to beat it, because they're not trying to get trapped in the triangle."

It is more of an issue now because as rail carriers have consolidated, the trains making cross-country trips are longer, stretching well beyond the rail yard and onto tracks in the city, blocking crossings. The town hall is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the police department building. Union Pacific has said it is committed to a fix.

Matt Walsh, mayor of Council Bluffs, said Union Pacific representatives expressed surprise over the blocked tracks when he met with them but added the company is willing to make changes, including by installing new technology.

"They can send a signal to a beacon, to alert people that the tracks are blocked," Walsh explained.

While the fix could help keep people from getting into the triangle in the first place, it does not do anything to help those who are already there. Union Pacific has told the mayor the company will schedule trains differently to avoid having both sets of tracks occupied at once and a new yard master will make sure it happens.


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