March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Referendum for turnpike may have far-reaching effects, debaters say

SOUTHWEST HARBOR — More than a decision about widening the Maine turnpike will be decided by voters this November, according to two speakers who debated the issue Thursday evening.

Everett “Brownie” Carson, executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine and an opponent of the proposed turnpike widening, said that a “yes” vote on the statewide transportation referendum will “establish a sensible, forward-looking transportation policy.”

Barbara Trafton, chairwoman of the newly formed Coalition for Responsible Government, said the proposed policy would instead “take a shot at the underpinnings of a sound economy … (one) based on the importance of roads.”

The referendum, referred to as the Transportation Policy Act, would not only call a halt to plans to widen the turnpike in southern Maine, but also would establish a statewide transportation policy.

The policy would require evaluation of the full range of alternatives to highway construction or reconstruction, and would give preference to nonconstructive alternatives, such as traffic management and public transit systems.

Carson represented the Campaign for Sensible Transportation, which last fall gathered enough signatures on a petition to force a statewide referendum vote that could stop the widening. In outlining the intent of the referendum, Carson said that Mainers would cast their votes based on a “vision” about the future of transportation in the state.

“The real issue is the vision … the way the state’s infrastructure will change and grow,” he said.

Carson not only disputed the claims that Maine’s 30-mile stretch of turnpike from York to South Portland is overly congested, but also argued against the assertion that it has pressing safety problems. He argued that the $100 million needed for the project could be better spent on the improvement of roads and bridges throughout the state.

Explaining another portion of the referendum, Carson said that an affirmative vote would require the transfer of surplus operating funds from the Maine Turnpike Authority to the Department of Transportation for those improvements.

Carson said that the intent of the proposed transportation policy would provide for more public participation in transportation decisions.

“The policy mandates that if alternatives to widening roads or building new roads are viable, then road building would be the last option. The lesson of history is that we can’t build our way out of congestion. That’s a foolhardy road to go down.”

Trafton, who was debating the issue publicly for the first time Thursday evening, countered that the strip of turnpike to be widened is congested, with predictions that the section will be unacceptably congested by 1995. She explained that 50 percent of the $100 million needed for the project is for safety improvements to that road.

“That stretch of highway is 44 years old with substandard elements. The repairs will have to be done irrespective of the outcome of the referendum,” she said.

Trafton said that the referendum was created by one group. “Ideas were never shared or sought from the commissioner of transportation. The public never had an opportunity to help forge the policy.”

Explaining that some members of her coalition also oppose the turnpike widening, Trafton said that all agree that the proposed transportation policy would be “costly, with no flexibility. It’s boiler plate language affects every project in the state. The coalition is concerned about the total ramification on all of the 22,000 miles of roads in the state.”

Trafton added that the policy would restrict how decisions would be made by adding another layer to bureaucracy. “I can imagine the bottleneck if this is passed,” she added.

Carson argued that the DOT and MTA have been reluctant to pursue creative alternatives or traffic management techniques to handle the congestion. He said that the policy would require looking for “environmentally friendly alternatives.”

Trafton said that DOT is engaged in several creative alternatives, with plans to use electronic toll collection in the fall. “I don’t think MTA is the dinosaur Brownie would have you believe … We need to move ahead with transportation without an overly burdensome regulatory system,” she concluded.


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