Last month, the governor and the Legislature agreed on the investments Maine needs to make in its highways and bridges.

The new law creates the framework for setting priorities to improve transportation in the state, and it leads to the conclusion that Maine’s unfunded highway and bridge capital needs amount to roughly $150 million per year for the next 10 years.

This month, we need our governor and Legislators to take action to fund this shortfall. The current debate about bond financing could lead to part of the solution.

This $150 million per year shortfall in funding is in no way gold-plated, but is actually half of previous capital estimates. The reduction is achieved by relegating nearly half of the roads under Maine Department of Transportation control to paving-only. It is shortsighted to forgo other necessary rehabilitation work, but such are the stark facts of transportation funding today.

The law clearly defines which roads should be fixed first, classifying 8,500 miles of state highways into five levels of priority. It allocates the greatest share of Maine’s limited road funding to priority 1, 2 and 3 roads that carry roughly 70 percent of all traffic in Maine. These are the roads that sustain Maine’s economy.

Priority 1 and 2 roads total 2,351 miles or about 10 percent of all public roads, according to MDOT. They include the interstate and such key travel corridors as U.S. routes 1, 2, 201 and 202 and state routes 3, 4, 9, 17 and 27.

Under this new performance ranking, MaineDOT rates about two-thirds of these roads as “fair” or better in terms of safety, condition and service, leaving 763 miles of priority 1 and 2 roads rated “poor” or “unacceptable.”

The new law provides that, within 10 years, all priority 1 and 2 roads should be rated “fair” or better for safety, condition or service and that, within 15 years, the 848 miles of unsatisfactory priority 3 roads also should be upgraded to “fair” or better.

It is significant that our state leaders have agreed on the size of the need and set a schedule for addressing it.

Paying for this necessary work is the next big task to tackle, and so far it is not going well. DOT capital investment is declining significantly, even after the department’s efforts to improve efficiency. For this coming construction season, capital funding will be cut by an estimated $54 million, based on DOT estimates.

The governor and legislators chose not to raise the gas tax to address this shortfall. Some promised to appropriate transportation-related sales tax revenues to help fix our roads and bridges, but this promise has yet to materialize.

The only tool left in the box is bonds, and the Appropriations Committee recommends $41 million in bonds for roads and bridges, which represents just 26 percent of the acknowledged $150 million per year need.

We are left to hope that by agreeing to the benchmarks established in the new law, our leaders truly understand the magnitude of the problem and are contemplating a more robust solution.

Every year these capital investment goals are not met, our infrastructure deficit grows and our economy is destined to sputter along. Join us in urging our legislators to properly fund road and bridge investment and not let the infrastructure deficit worsen.

John Melrose, former commissioner of Maine Department of Transportation, is the executive director of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Maine.