On July 6, I observed a traffic backup that had been caused by faulty gates on the Casco Bay Bridge. It was several miles long, and it took the better part of an hour to clear. The same failure occurred the next day, and there were other issues that caused traffic jams July 10.
My first thought was that Gov. LePage was behind it, enjoying the scene as folks from Cape Elizabeth were stalled in their visit to the Old Port, furthering his war on what he calls “Northern Massachusetts.”
When questioned about the bridge, Maine Department of Transportation spokesman Ted Talbot initially denied there had been a malfunction, a typical “alt-facts” response made popular by LePage and President Trump.
When Talbot later admitted that there had been a malfunction, he said he had been unable to locate anyone who could tell him what had been going on. If state employees had been operating the bridge, they could have reported up the chain of command to the MDOT and shown responsibility to the taxpayers.
But the bridge operates under a contract between the state of Maine and an out-of-state corporation. It was the LePage administration’s idea. It’s a contract that doesn’t save any money for the taxpayers. We are paying a profit for this company’s incompetence and irresponsibility. And LePage is behind it, after all.
Stephen Bither
Portland
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