An Act to Provide Incentives and Amend Laws Regarding Access to
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1632
Sponsors: GERE, PIERCE
Amends: 23 MRSA §73-B, 23 MRSA §704

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