City Scoop: Portland
Value of new contracts expected to fall 13% in 2021 after rising last year
Declines are expected across all three major sectors, with non-building work posting the sharpest drop.
City Grill
Paul Godfrey
Northern New England Office Leader, Vice President
HNTB Corp.
Godfrey hope’s the Biden administration can shepherd a “robust” federal infrastructure funding package to “drive Maine’s economic recovery, create jobs and improve mobility and quality of life. Even without funding, he says, infrastructure construction “remains strong.” But he said Maine Turnpike Authority and the state’s Dept. of Transportation programs “are in flux and contingent on the level of federal funding, state revenue and additional transportation bonding, which are uncertain at this point.”
Maine’s residential market was boosted by people moving there during the pandemic, according to Godfrey, who also notes that increased delivery and shipping “will likely drive” added road and bridge infrastructure work “as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Godfrey also believes an uptick in tourist traffic during the summer months will help Maine bounce back “strongly by mid-2021 . We see projects with a strong focus on improving safety and mobility as well as meeting Maine’s climate action plan and resilience strengthening at the lead.”
