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DPW tells House panel it needs funding to finish Route 36, other highway and energy projects
Summary
Ray Yumo, secretary of the CNMI Department of Public Works, outlined completed and planned transportation and energy projects — including Route 36 phases, Route 315 traffic signal work and a federal earmark — while presenting the agency's budget to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Ray Yumo, secretary of the Department of Public Works, told the House Committee on Ways and Means during a budget hearing that the department is focused on finishing major road projects and expanding renewable-energy and resilience work.
The secretary opened with an overview of DPW's structure and recent work and listed highway projects the department says it advanced under the current administration. "Route 36 Phase 1 ... the windward, Calabetta Road Improvement Project" is now complete through the phase Yumo described; Phase 2 extends the road from Hidden Beach to San Juan, and DPW said it is working on the final phase to pave up to Bird Island. Yumo said Route 36 benefitted from a congressional earmark of about $15.2 million.
Why it matters: the projects cited are central to island mobility and access; some are federally funded and carry requirements or opportunities for reimbursements and future federal support. Yumo emphasized the department's emphasis on multimodal transportation and environmental resilience as context for the budget request.
Key projects and figures presented to the committee: - Route 36 Phase 1 and extensions; Yumo said a congressional earmark of about $15,200,000 supported the work. - Route 315 (Quartermaster) traffic signal installation completed in 2023; Yumo said the project cost about $2.2 million. - Route 205 on Tinian: engineering design completed at about $260,000 and the project was bid and awaiting a notice to proceed. - Multiple local paving, sidewalk and drainage projects whose combined 2023'024 local costs DPW reported as about $3.6 million (examples cited: Gogu Street asphalt paving, Drive Road Improvement Phase 2, sidewalk construction along Route 30 in Tanopec). - DPW said it completed the CNMI Energy Security Plan with partners and is implementing solar lighting retrofits and weatherization initiatives; Yumo cited roughly $2.5 million associated with state energy program activities under the bipartisan infrastructure law.
Committee questions focused on project status, contractor performance and federal coordination. Yumo described a contractor dispute on Route 10 hazard-elimination work and said DPW was negotiating a settlement and preparing to reprocure remaining work. On the ongoing Beach Road project he said phases 2—3 were at different stages and that some design timing and coordination with the public-transit authority (COTA/CODA) had not been synchronized during earlier project development.
The hearing record shows the committee adopted the day's agenda before the DPW presentation (voice vote; "the ayes have it").
What happens next: DPW said staff will follow up with the committee on specific reimbursements, outstanding contractor issues and documentation for federal-aid projects.
