Maine's East-West highway?

[lumberzac]

If it's going to go to Watertown NY, that means it will probably go straight through the northern section of the Adirondack Park. WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER NORTHWAY!

 

[MrAmeche]

Before Monday's unveiling, New England had no identified high priority routes, a fact Matt Robison, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, used to stress the region's need. "It was as if New England didn't even exist," he said. "What this designation did was, quite literally, put Maine on the map."

Unbelievable. As if the world needs more strip malls, parking lots the size of small counties, and of course, the ubiquitous Wal-Mart.

To quote Bill Bryson, "What a sad and curious world we live in."

 

[peakbagger]

Maine has been trying to upgrade Route 2 west of Bethel for over 10 years. The recent work over the last two years has taken care of some of the problems. The state recently postponed the remaining work when the realization came that the remaining work would cost about 1/4 of the entrie state highway budget for a couple of years!

There is a active vocal group pushing for an Interstate type highway, but there have been several studies showing that just upgrading the existing highways to wide two lanes with good sight lines and frequent uphill passing lanes gives much of the benefit with a lot less cost. NH, ME and VT have been doing this along the RT 9 and Rt corridors for years. Environmentally, this project would make the North Conway bypass schedule look short in comparison.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

If it's going to go to Watertown NY, that means it will probably go straight through the northern section of the Adirondack Park. WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER NORTHWAY!

I agree. yeah, sure, I can say it'll be great because I can save an hour or so, on trips to VT and NH, but at what expense? Is our selfish need to get to places quickly a reason to cut up what little remote sections remain?

Putting a superhighway across all of that remote northern NY? Uggh!

 

[dentonfabrics]

RT 9, from Bangor to New Brunswick is a great driving road. It's a recently improved two lane highway thru a wonderfully green terrain, both hilly and wooded, which is being selectively divided and harvested. I drove it in the pouring rain last spring at 80mph, passing only an occasional 18 wheeler. It was one of the most memorable drives in my life.

For that 100 miles, it was a Great American Road Trip. It was the perfect marriage of alphalt and conifer. I'd hate to see it waste away to strip malls.


denton fabrics

 

[Artex]

How'd I miss this thread before?!?!

Seems like a lame idea to me! Jeez, it looks like it cuts right through or at least near a lot of wilderness areas like the 'Dacks, Whites, and... well most of interior Maine is a wilderness area. I know tourism brings a lot of money to my state, but still, summertime is annoying with the influx. I don't want anymore! Not to mention the aformentioned large corporate chains that will be built along the way! AAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH!

 

[Gator]

I'm not sure I see an influx of chain stores and restaurants. Roads are a small part of what dictates a store or restaurant moving in. The big thing of course is the market. It's not like there's a bunch of populous locations just waiting for better highway access. That will probably come with time, 10 to 20 years down the road as a highway improves local economies, but not in the near future. That's my 2 cents.

In any case, I think an interstate is not going to prove good on its investment. It's an enormous cost and I just don't see it improving the economy that much. I would think a wide 2 lane with passing lanes would be a much better investment with a much lower impact.

 

[king tut]

I have to disagree w/ all the people who say that there is going to be an influx of large corporate stores. In a lot of the proposed sections of the roads in eastern, western, or northern maine there is not a large population base. And the population base that there is, is mostly economically depressed. I really don't foresee knew Walmarts or Targets showing up in Jackman, Coburn Gore, Calais, or Northern Maine just because of the highway. Who are they going to sell stuff to, the moose?

 

[Solitary Hiker]

You may be right about no influx of the large chain stores; however, if past performance is indicative of future behavior, you might be proven wrong. I've run across a couple of "once occupired" Walmarts in some economically depressed areas. Apparently the Mooses' (sp?) unemployment had run out. It took 6+ years from the time the findings of the studies were published to the revising of the congressional corridor map so I don't think any of us have to worry about this in our lifetimes (wishful thinking?).

I have to disagree w/ all the people who say that there is going to be an influx of large corporate stores. In a lot of the proposed sections of the roads in eastern, western, or northern maine there is not a large population base. And the population base that there is, is mostly economically depressed. I really don't foresee knew Walmarts or Targets showing up in Jackman, Coburn Gore, Calais, or Northern Maine just because of the highway. Who are they going to sell stuff to, the moose?

 

[arghman]

I'm still in head-scratching mode here, after skimming the executive summary that John S posted a link to.

There is a active vocal group pushing for an Interstate type highway, but there have been several studies showing that just upgrading the existing highways to wide two lanes with good sight lines and frequent uphill passing lanes gives much of the benefit with a lot less cost.

What they've done to Rt 2 and Rt 9 seems to make sense. Stuff like the following has me confused however:

Construction of a new 4-lane limited access highway between Calais and Bangor would result in a substantial diversion of traffic off existing Routes 1 and 9. A new 4-lane alignment is projected to carry an AADT of 11,400 to 11,600 in 2030. Such a route would remove nearly all of the existing traffic off of Route 9, as well as cut projected future traffic on Route 1 by roughly 2,300 vehicles per day below current levels. These projects indicate that a new four lane alignment east of Bangor could cause significant bypass effects of Route 1 commercial activity in the coastal communities between Bangor and Calais.

I didn't realize that there was clogged traffic between Calais and Bangor, the only time I've ever run into problems was the slow traffic between Bangor and Eddington; past Eddington it's always been a breeze on Rt 9. Are residents of Aurora complaining about the traffic congestion?

organized development never seems to bode well for anyone except real estate speculators and big business. why can't we maintain some places in this country which aren't screamingly fast to get to / through?

 

[thuja]

I wouldn't hold my breath over this one. Has anybody noticed the state our federal budget is in? What kind of priority is this likely to have? Unlike Alaska, which has republican senators powerful enough to get money for bridges to nowhere, I don't see any of the new england delegation having a lot of clout.

 

[Nadine]

I travel thru coburn gore and jackman fairly regularly, there's definitely not enough folks to support strip malls. The Lincoln WalMart (close to where I live), is the smallest store in the state, and with all the population draw from many surrounding communities, business is marginal at best. The folks that live in these small communities don't make enough money to spend at strip malls.

Driving from west enfield to anywhere west has always been a nightmare. I'm in favor of a straight route across the state, it would make travelling west much more accessible for Maine's centrally located residents.