Things you can do:

Write to your Congressional Delegation:

You may have seen the editorial in the Portsmouth Herald today.  If not, here is the link:

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20091025-OPINION-910250332

This editorial lays out the current status of our application for this stimulus funding.  Here are the facts as they stand right now:

There is about $1.5 Billion available for this round of stimulus funding.  The 50 states have applied for funding in the total amount of $57 Billion.  That means that only 2% of the requested funding is actually available.  The implication is that we need to have both a solid technical application for the repair of the Memorial Bridge, and we need political support.

From a technical perspective, Maine and New Hampshire have collaborated to develop an application that hits all the key requirements for stimulus funding.  The current closure of the Memorial Bridge, and reduction of load capacity will hopefully provide emphasis to the criticality of the bridge's current condition.  But other bridges have been closed in the last week, including one across Lake Champlain in New York.  They will surely be using that closure as a reason to get their share of the limited funds.

That means that we need a full court press to gain the needed political support.  What will make a difference for us is our unique community support for the project.  Now we need to make that support vocal to our US Congressional delegations.

What I am asking you to do is to write to your congressional delegations asking for their support for the project.  You can use the links below to connect to your congressional delegation, and their email systems.  After the email links is suggested text for entry into their email systems.

New Hampshire:
Senator Judd Gregg:  http://gregg.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.cfm
Senator Jeanne Shaheen:  http://shaheen.senate.gov/contact/
Representative  Carol Shea-Porter:  http://forms.house.gov/shea-porter/webform/issue_subscribe.htm
Representative Paul Hodes:  http://hodes.house.gov/contact.aspx

Maine
Senator Susan Collins:  http://collins.senate.gov/public/continue.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorCollins.Email
Senator Olympia Snowe:  http://snowe.senate.gov/contact.htm
Representative Chellie Pingree:  https://forms.house.gov/pingree/contact-form.shtml
Representative Mike Michaud:  https://forms.house.gov/michaud/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

Subject: 
Support for Joint New Hampshire-Maine TIGER Grant Proposal

Text: 
Maine and New Hampshire have submitted a request for funding to repair the Memorial Bridge between Portsmouth and Kittery.  This message is to reinforce the need for this critical connection for our community, and to request your support for the approval of the TIGER Grant application.

Since the application was submitted, the condition of the Memorial Bridge has deterioriated significantly.  It is currently closed, and when reopened at the end of November, will be limited to car and pickup trucks (3 tons).  Without funding, the bridge will be permanently closed in one to three years.

The bridge is critical to the survival of Kittery/Portsmouth as viable commercial and tourist destinations. 

Please do what you can to insure that our proposal receives the priority that it deserves, and that will assure that we receive the funding needed for this critical project.

Thanks again for your support of the repair of the Memorial Bridge.