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December 11, 2010

Another View: Editorial wrong on value of proposed Wiscasset bypass

An eagle's nest should not be allowed to derail this valuable infrastructure project.

For the past 11 years I have been a member of a citizens group, working with the Maine Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to eliminate the traffic bottleneck known as the "Wiscasset Strangler."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Ross Bertran is a resident of Westport Island.

If it were an easy task it would have been completed years ago.

The Portland Press Herald editorial ("Bypass plan has more than one problem," Dec. 3) is inaccurate and at best misleading. Consider the following:

During tourist season it takes anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes to get through Wiscasset on Route 1.

In cases of accidents it can take substantially longer.

Tourists, supply vehicles and workers are all impacted, leading to a tremendous waste in productivity and fuel as well as excessive vehicle emissions.

It strangles the midcoast economy. On any given night the Boothbay Peninsula alone can have 250,000 visitors. Tourists are perishable, as are the jobs they create. A bad experience and they will go elsewhere.

The stretch of Route 1 between Bath and Edgecomb is one of the most dangerous in the state. It has an unacceptably high rate of accidents, injuries and fatalities.

The cost of the Wiscasset bypass is largely paid for by federal dollars. This is, in a sense, a return of our federal gasoline tax dollars.

In addition, the $100 million cited in The Portland Press Herald is grossly overstated.

Fortunately, Maine has a new governor and Legislature that understand the importance of new infrastructure projects, like the Wiscasset bypass, to the Maine economy and jobs.

I am certain that they will not let an empty eagle's nest stand in their way.

 

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