Block the Camden bypass

A bypass through Hope? I hope not!

This seems like a drastic plan with far-reaching negative implications for the entire area in order merely to relieve Camden’s annual summer tourist congestion. We sympathize with the problem but do not agree with any plan, however tentative, which would suggest that Hope and the island towns are to be used as a solution.

It’s an interesting yet disturbing paradox that, as we in Hope are making plans to carry out our part in Gov. McKernan’s statewide project of celebrating community pride, “Maine Street ’90,” the state Department of Transportation may also be working on its own Maine Street ’90 plans — a bypass which will have the potential to tear apart communities and change them forever.

It could pollute our air, threaten our environment, open spaces and wetlands. A bypass with its necessary access routes would increase our vulnerability to more development. Accelerated growth these past few years has already extended many inland towns to the limit. Town planners as well as schools, fire departments and other municipal services are struggling to meet the needs of increased population growth.

The world is changing — solutions for one community’s problem can create problems for another community. The bypass we really need is one from a tunnel outlook, or quick-fix problem-solving approach, to long-range visionary planning.

Ruth Pearse Hope representative to Route 1 Corridor Study Committee