The Maine Turnpike Authority’s Gorham Connector is estimated to cost $230 million-plus to complete; the project is opposed by many local citizens and is projected to have limited impact on future commute times. Why are we doing this? It is a speculative investment that solves a problem that currently does not exist. Does the MTA have a crystal ball showing the future? No for-profit company or group of investors would ever invest in such a venture – where is the return?

The $230 million-plus, at today’s interest rates, would never generate an acceptable return for investors for a road the few want and most will never use. Yet the MTA, as a quasi-public organization, seems to have the ability to raise tolls on the turnpike to fund it. Must be nice to have unlimited taxing authority (tolls) with no oversight from the state or taxpayers. Why should people from all over the state fund the Gorham Connector by way of higher tolls? I must be missing something.

Decisions made in the past often need to be revisited. It takes courage as a leader to change direction when the social and physical environment has changed. Where is the courage from MTA and local towns to question past decisions and use current data and citizen opinions to move in a different direction? Making a speculative investment in the Gorham Connector, against the people’s will, seems like abuse of public interest to me.

Charles Hamblen
Gorham