I just spent close to an hour driving from my office at the Fish Pier to Casco Bay Lines, and then home near Deering High School.

Of course, it was rush hour, so I should have expected an extra 10 or 15 minutes.

But seven block-the-box traffic lights, innumerable tourists walking wherever they want, cars with out-of-state plates (and in-state, too) making illegal turns, long-box semis blocking both Commercial and Franklin streets – this is not the way life should be.

We just live here – we’re not tourists. We’re not quaint, we don’t want to sell you jewelry or T-shirts or dinner, and we try to obey the laws (which are probably the same as everywhere else).

Where are the traffic cops? Where is the officer giving tickets to people who block intersections (e.g., Franklin and Commercial), who ignore traffic lights and who block sidewalks without discernible purpose?

Portland is eager to collect parking fees from us residents to pay for city services, so shouldn’t the city collect fees from the tourists who ignore our laws and lower our quality of life?

And why are maximum-sized semi-tractor-trailer rigs allowed to operate in the Old Port at rush hour?

It’s perfectly appropriate for big trucks to operate near the container terminal at any time of day. But Portland has given up on most of its working waterfront in favor of tourist stores and restaurants, so why does the city allow street-blocking trucks in the most congested areas of the city at rush hour?

It appears that the city has made a conscious decision to tolerate all of this on behalf of the tourist trade, and we residents would like that decision to be discussed in public. Portland is becoming less and less attractive as a place to live and to locate a non-tourist business.

Richard Akers

Portland

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