Maine Better

Here are some of the top transportation news stories as February comes to a close. Patricia Quinn, Executive Director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority and Amtrak Downeaster will be speaking about passenger rail service at the Maine Better Transportation Association's Cumberland County dinner meeting on March 6th at the Portland Sheraton in South Portland. Register now to attend or sponsor at www.mbtaonline.org/event

At the 73rd Maine Transportation Conference, a crowd of experts, engineers, planners, and policymakers gathered to consider the future of how people move—by foot, by bike, by bus, behind the wheel and more. It was fitting that Marshall Elizer of the Washington State Department of Transportation and Vice-Chair of the AASHTO Committee on Design, opened the event with a talk that melded the technical with the philosophical. What stood out in his speech wasn’t just his technical expertise, but his ability to connect the arcane world of geometric road design to something much larger: the way we live, work, and build our communities. This is an excerpt of that speech and conference slides can be viewed at https://mbtaonline.org/73rd-maine-transportation-conference-slides/

“Geometric design,” Elizer began, “is impactful not just to those who are actually performing it on a daily basis, but also to any of us who walk, bike, or drive. It says a lot about how our life works—or doesn’t work—as we move around our communities.”

For many, the phrase “geometric design” may conjure visions of technical manuals filled with precise dimensions for traffic lanes and curves. But Elizer’s message went far beyond the Green Book, the manual that serves as the bible for roadway design in the U.S. Yes, the Green Book provides engineers with standards for road widths, speed limits, and alignments, but Elizer urged his audience to think of it as a starting point—not the final word.

“The Green Book allows a design that fits in this big box, but we’re really comfortable in this little box in the middle. That’s where we feel most comfortable, and that’s where we want to stay. But that flexibility says, look outside the small box. Think about the alternatives.”

This push for flexibility reflects the challenges of modern road design. The days of building entirely new highways through untouched land are largely behind us. Today’s transportation professionals are grappling with how to retrofit and adapt aging infrastructure to meet modern demands: safer spaces for pedestrians and cyclists, more efficient traffic flows, and designs that harmonize with community goals rather than bulldozing over them.

Elizer’s perspective is grounded in pragmatism, but also urgency. He didn’t shy away from addressing the sobering reality of safety on America’s roadways. Each year, approximately 1.2 million people die on roads worldwide. In the U.S. alone, more than 42,000 lives were lost in 2022. Pedestrians, he noted, are especially at risk.

“Good geometric design equals safety and efficiency for all users,” Elizer said. Elizer also touched on the broader

Despite these challenges, Elizer struck an optimistic tone about the future. He highlighted the Safe System Approach, an international framework that the U.S. Department of Transportation has adopted to eliminate traffic fatalities. It’s a bold goal—Vision Zero, as it’s called—but one that Elizer believes is achievable if professionals embrace innovation and flexibility.

In the end, Elizer’s speech was about more than roads. It was a call to rethink how we design the spaces that connect us—to create systems that don’t just move people efficiently, but also protect their lives and reflect their communities’ values.

Eric Ritchie’s journey from a Downeast small-town kid with a love for Tonka trucks, to the President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the employee-owned construction company Sargent, reads like a quintessential American success story. But it’s more than that—it’s about passion, resilience, and a deep commitment to the transportation and construction industry.

In a candid podcast interview, Ritchie, who also just ended his term as the president of the Maine Better Transportation Association (MBTA), shares insights into his career and the critical role infrastructure plays in Maine’s future.

“I grew up in the very eastern part of the state of Maine, in Perry, and had an affinity for construction even as a child,” Ritchie says. “My father dabbled in it. I was a big Tonka truck owner and that's really where it all started.” That early fascination with trucks and building things became more than just child’s play when Ritchie saw Route 9 being reconstructed from “the old goat path” it used to be.

After earning a degree in engineering from the University of Maine and spending 16 years with The Lane Construction Corporation, Ritchie found his way to Sargent. Today, he leads a team of over 500 employee-owners from Maine to Virginia. Since joining Sargent, the company has grown significantly, expanding from 300 employees in just a few short years.

When asked how he ended up as a leader both at Sargent and the MBTA, Ritchie reflects on his humble rise. “It’s a long story, so I’ll try to shorten it,” he says with a laugh. “I’ve been very blessed in life… I got involved in MBTA a long time ago, early in my career… I've got a tremendous passion for the industry. I love what I do. I love the company I work for. I love MBTA and its mission is a very critical mission, not only to the maintenance of our state's infrastructure, but also to getting to a point that we can leverage our infrastructure better to become a more economically viable state at the end of the day. So, I encourage young people all the time, cut your teeth in this organization. It's a great place to get to know people.”

One of the biggest challenges facing the industry today is recruiting and retaining young workers. “Most of my career, and I think probably 95% of the people you talk to in this business, there's been a lot of baptism by fire in a person's career.” Sargent has been working to ease some of those transitions and take some of the harshness out of it, “trying to help folks see that this can be a career for you. This can be where you make your living, and where you make your mark for your own legacy. And educating folks around benefits, educating folks around retirement, something I wish I had more of when I was a young guy.” 

Ritchie fondly recalls the mentorship and support he received from Herb Sargent, “Herb said something years ago that really stuck with me, and you know it's nice when you find folks that have philosophies like you, he said that ‘someone who works for this company for a long time should retire with a surplus of dignity.’ And I truly believe that if you're going to put your life, heart, and soul into this business, which isn't always easy, you should be able to retire and live a healthy life.”

As the ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee, Representative Jack Ducharme of Maine House District 71 (Madison, Norridgewock, and Cornville) focuses on the needs of rural Maine in this interview with Orion Breen of the Maine Better Transportation Association (MBTA) discussing financial responsibility, economic development and the importance of transportation infrastructure. 

Senator Brad Farrin of Norridgewock and Representative Lydia Crafts of Newcastle give a bipartisan view of the big transportation news coming out of the Maine State Legislature and Transportation Committee, with hosts Patrick Brady and Orion Breen.

Jacqueline Gelb and Paul Ruiz of the American Trucking Associations share their perspective on California's Advanced Clean Trucks Rule that is in the process of being adopted by multiple states and has a public hearing on August 17 with Maine's Board of Environmental Protection.

Senator Brad Farrin of Norridgewock and Representative Lydia Crafts of Newcastle give us bipartisan view of the big transportation news coming out of the

Everything you always wanted to know about state bonds and more with Maine State Treasurer Henry Beck.

Senator Angus King talks about infrastructure negotiations right before President Biden agreed to the bipartisan deal. Senator King also shares his views on voting rights, innovative forest products and sense of pride fixing his first car as a teenager.

Maine Senator Susan Collins shares her perspective on the big infrastructure plans being discussed in D.C.