Usually, one town’s debate on the placement of a new traffic signal is just that — one town’s debate, an issue perhaps of great local interest but of no particular concern to those just passing through.

The discussion regarding a new light in Topsham should be everyone’s concern. The road in question is the Coastal Connector, a $43-million state and federal investment made just two years ago in what was supposed to be a three-mile-long, 55 miles-per-hour bypass around Brunswick’s infamous “30-minute mile” strip of congestion.

Since it opened, the number of lights has grown from zero to four, roadside business activity has exploded and traffic has slowed in places to a crawl. With a fifth light now being considered, the transformation of this unimpeded shortcut into simply a newer version of Brunswick’s clutter is nearly complete and the Coastal Connector is nothing more — or less — than a $43-million monument to poor planning and disconnected state policies.

The Coastal Connector as a speedy jaunt through the undeveloped countryside was in trouble from the start. Before the new road opened in November 1997, Topsham merchants complained that the I-95 directional signs did not advise travelers that Exit 24 would take them to their town. Brunswick merchants complained that the signs intimated that Exit 22 would take them to bumper-to-bumper hell. As an example of how compromise sometimes is the worst way to resolve things, the state Department of Transportation went with signs that told travelers they could get to Route 1 via either Exit 22 or 24, but gave them no clue why they’d choose one over the other.

At least now the signs are correct. There is no reason to choose one over the other. Topsham’s strip is just as cluttered, just as bogged down as Brunswick’s. If the intent of the Coastal Connector was to make fortunes from the development of formerly unspoiled open land, it has performed beautifully.

Of course, this all occured during the same period of time the State Planning Office was shouting continually about sprawl and the economic and social costs that result from it. Everybody’s heard the SPO pitch on sprawl. Everybody except, apparently, the DOT.

Still, there’s a bright side. Because the Coastal Connector was designated a federal transportation demonstration project, 80 percent of its $43-million price tag was covered by the Federal Highway Administration. And it vividly demonstrates the connection between modern roads and economic development, a point folks in the state’s transportation-starved regions have been trying to make for years.