THE MAINE ADVANTAGE: Maine Transportation

AIRPORTS

Maine has 46 public airports; 15 of these accommodate corporate jets. Central Maine Regional Airport (www.fly-cmra.org) is the closest airport to Madison Business Gateway, located just 15 minutes south in the town of Norridgewock. It is an all-weather, full-service airport, accommodating business aircraft of all types. Bangor International Airport (www.flybangor.com), 55 miles from Madison, and Portland International Jetport (www.portlandjetport.org), 95 miles, provide non-stop passenger service to major cities including: Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Detroit; Minneapolis; New York; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Portsmouth, N.H.; Washington, D.C; and Saint John, New Brunswick.

HIGHWAYS AND ROADS

Totaling 32,000 miles, Maine’s roads and bridges were ranked eighth best in the country by a 1998 University of North Carolina survey. The state has a 20-year highway maintenance and improvement plan, with more than 1,000 miles of well-maintained National Highway System roads. All of Maine is relatively congestion-free; business is not slowed down by traffic jams. By road, Madison Business Gateway is 20 miles from I-95, the state’s major north-south interstate highway, 55 miles from an international airport and approximately 178 miles from Boston. Located minutes from the Route 201 thoroughfare from Canada to the U.S., the park is 89 miles from the Canadian border, with Québec City just another 90 miles. Madison Business Gateway provides convenient access to major national and international markets.

RAIL

Seven railroad companies operate 1,400 miles of track in Maine. Operating about three quarters of the network are three companies: Bangor & Aroostook, Springfield Terminal Railroad, and St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroads.Maine has rail-truck intermodal facilities located in Auburn, Presque Isle and Waterville. The Waterville facility, just 20 miles from Madison Business Gateway, provides daily service to major east coast markets. Connecting service to major rail carriers in the U.S. and Canada is available through the Canadian National and Norfolk Southern systems.Passenger rail service between Boston and Portland has also returned to Maine with Amtrak’s Downeaster line.

SEAPORTS

Maine has seven strategically located seaports. The largest cargo shipping ports are in Eastport, Searsport and Portland. As ice-free, year-round deepwater ports, these three can handle any type of cargo and provide regular service to Europe, Asia and Canada. Maine’s three ports have grown, on average, 7.6 percent annually over the last 10 years. Today the three ports collectively handle over 1.5 million tons of dry cargo.