The Maine Turnpike Authority’s plan to build a turnpike spur through Gorham/Scarborough is a bad idea. The 3/4-mile long section of Route 22 between the two Route 114 intersections has historically caused a traffic logjam heading into Portland in the morning and toward Buxton and beyond in the evening. Traffic thins out in either direction as soon as it gets through that bottleneck and cars split off.

The archaic plan of a turnpike spur from Gorham to Scarborough (through Smiling Hill Farm) will not address this. The spur will cut through the farm’s land and destroy natural habitats while in no way alleviating the traffic on Route 22 heading into and out of Portland. There is a huge assumption on the MTA’s part that the traffic backlog is due to commuters heading toward the turnpike, but unless someone stops every single car on that route to survey each driver’s origin and destination, there is no way of knowing how much traffic will be reduced by this regressive proposal.

I urge town governments and residents affected to push back against this destructive plan. Instead, we should consider restructuring that problematic section of Route 22, while seriously exploring various forms of mass transit from Gorham to Westbrook/Portland (e.g. light rail along existing rail trails), if we want to preserve the Maine we would like to see for our children and grandchildren while also promoting responsible and sustainable growth.

Lisa King
Gorham

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