Holden to discuss highway options Officials seek to ease traffic congestion with I-395, Route 9 connector

HOLDEN – Route options for the proposed Interstate 395-Route 9 connector highway will be the subject of a joint meeting Monday of the Board of Selectmen and planning board. The session is set for 6 p.m. at Holden School.

According to Town Manager Larry Varisco, a representative from the Maine Department of Transportation will attend the meeting to hear residents’ concerns about the project.

Varisco said the town originally invited Transportation Commissioner John Melrose, but he had a previous commitment. Raymond Faucher, the DOT project manager assigned to the project, will attend in Melrose’s stead.

The proposed limited-access highway is aimed at easing traffic congestion in Brewer, Holden and Eddington, according to state transportation officials.

The 20-member Interstate 395-Route 9 public advisory committee has been meeting since the fall of 2000 to help state transportation officials plot a route for a connector road that would link Route 9 with Interstate 395.

The mission the group was given is to participate in the study to identify the route alternative that best addresses the affected area’s transportation and safety problems, satisfies federal and state criteria, has the least impact on the environment, and is affordable.

According to proponents, a connector road would reduce some of the truck traffic in downtown Brewer and on Routes 46 and 9 in Holden and Eddington. It also would ease some of the safety problems in that area. State transportation officials also see the road as a step toward providing an east-west connection.

Holden residents, however, are concerned that the two options that have survived the winnowing process would adversely affect their town by siphoning traffic away from their commercial corridor and bringing it closer to residential neighborhoods.

DOT representatives earlier said traffic in the area is expected to increase dramatically during the next three decades. Most of the traffic growth is expected to affect U.S. Route 1A between I-395 and Route 46, and Route 46 between Routes 9 and 1A. The affected area also includes several high-crash sites, according to state Department of Transportation statistics.