New Brunswick backs bridge at Baileyville

CALAIS – Members of a panel set up by the state Department of Transportation walked away from a meeting Thursday with three items of note: a coffee mug, a certificate of appreciation – and a letter from neighboring New Brunswick touting the Baileyville connection for a proposed third bridge in the area.

It was the final meeting of the public advisory committee the DOT created as it makes plans for the new St. Croix River bridge.

The New Brunswick government wants the bridge that would connect Maine and New Brunswick to be located in Baileyville. “The New Brunswick Department of Transportation is of the opinion that the … Baileyville option provides the best overall highway corridor from a long-term trade corridor perspective,” the letter says.

The news came as no surprise to many members of the advisory panel, who met with the DOT to offer comments on a draft environmental assessment.

The report studies two options for a new bridge: one near the Calais Industrial Park, just north of downtown, with the access road running through the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge; the other in Baileyville, near the intersection of Routes 1 and 9. That location is more than eight miles from downtown Calais.

Federal law requires, as part of the siting process, that the state create an advisory group to help plan federally funded transportation projects. For more than a year, the state has been working with the panel, made up of representatives from Calais to Bangor. And for more than a year, the committee members apparently believed that the state would ask them to vote on where to locate the new bridge.

But at a meeting last July, the panel members were told the public advisory portion of the process was complete. A few days later, they received what some characterized as a “dismissal letter,” telling them their services no longer were required.

Although they didn’t get to vote, DOT consultant William Plumpton of Harrisburg, Pa., told the group Thursday, “You guys have lots of ownership and influence over this process.”

During the meeting, Sandy Blitz of the Bangor-based Maine Citizens for Increased Jobs and Safety praised DOT officials for offering a fair and open forum to discuss the options.

But Blitz said he was concerned about safety issues. He said an environmental assessment should determine all possible alternatives, evaluate and compare those alternatives and arrive at a recommended solution.

He said that although the DOT’s environmental assessment addressed some of the issues, it did not go far enough.

“We spend much time on the physical and biological environment, wildlife, air and water quality, as we should. But we take very little heed of the people issue of safety. People are a part of the environment and should be given, at least, the same attention as all the other necessary issues involved with the environment. We don’t believe we have, and wanted to point this out for the record and future consideration,” he said.

Panel member Alan Brooks of Lubec said the state did not spend enough time on an earlier proposal to make the new bridge a trucks-only route.

Although Canadian officials have resisted that option, Brooks said it would allow trucks to be routed across at Baileyville, yet keep tourist traffic in the downtown Calais area. Brooks said that in view of recent events, a trucks-only route would be beneficial to get hazardous materials away from residential areas.

If the state will not entertain a trucks-only route, Brooks said, planners should be sensitive to Calais’ economic needs. “This is a community that cannot stand to be damaged right now,” he said.

About 10 years ago, the city had a thriving economy, but a depressed Canadian dollar and changes in how the Canadian federal and provincial governments collect taxes on goods bought in the United States keep Canadian shoppers home. Now downtown Calais is filled with many empty stores.

Former Calais Mayor Judy Alexander criticized the state and said she did not believe the environmental assessment offered a true picture of the city’s economy. The majority of panel members seemed to favor putting the bridge at the Calais Industrial Park.

Dick Mahan, an area real estate agent, said he did not have a preference but believes the Baileyville option is “heads and shoulders” above the industrial park option. He said he viewed the connection between Maine and New Brunswick as a marriage, and he reminded the panel members that the New Brunswick Transportation Department favors the Baileyville option.

“They’re going to have to dance with us and we are going to have to dance with them,” he said.