I read Andrew Hamilton’s March 26 commentary with interest. The mention of former Gov. Angus King’s announcement of his east-west transportation policy prompted me to recall the circumstances surrounding that important speech, which signaled Gov. King’s decision to embark on a mission to keep this political highway alive indefinitely and lay the groundwork for the eventual construction of a four-lane, limited-access highway across Maine.

Under the sobriquet “The Magnificent Seven,” Gov. King unveiled his “Seven Steps to Implementing Better East-West Transportation in Maine” on Oct. 6, 1999. In hindsight, the timing of Gov. King’s speech was crucial. Three out of four phases of the East-West Highway Economic Impact Analysis had already answered the question, “Would economic benefits be likely to flow to rural parts of Maine from the construction of a four-lane limited-access highway?” with a resounding “no.” Gov. King had to shelve the entire east-west highway analysis and its conclusions.

Phase IV’s final version was not even e-mailed to State Economist Laurie Lachance before Gov. King revealed his “Seven Steps” plan, but apparently it was clear that Phase IV’s conclusions were even more compelling than the earlier reports’. By mid-October, the final version of Phase IV still had not been printed.

The 46-page Phase IV technical report is a real eye-opener. It examines transportation and economic trends before and after the construction of two interstate highways, I-89 and I-91 in Vermont and New Hampshire. Both serve regions comparable to central and northern Maine, provide comparable highway connections to Montreal and have been in operation roughly 30 years.

Based on the I-91 and I-89 experiences, the Phase IV authors could not project that significant employment or population growth would flow into rural counties located along an east-west highway across Maine. To the extent economic impacts from a highway would occur, they most likely would occur within commuting distance of Bangor and other larger population centers along the corridor such as Skowhegan, which are already located close to Interstate 95.

Other not-so-positive and not-so-surprising findings about the interstates studied? The most common developments along these corridors are highway-related services such as fast-food establishments and gas stations. Both I-89 and I-91 have generated negative bypass effects on some communities. And neither highway has dramatically altered the underlying economic structure of the corridor communities.

The economic benefits of a four-lane east-west highway would be few, unequally distributed and moderate at best. The cost for each job created ranges from $190,000 to $439,239. The corridor to Coburn Gore, if built to four lanes, would be the most expensive alternative of all the ones examined, with a ratio of economic return per dollar invested of less than 0.5. It is also the most environmentally constrained east-west corridor in the state.

Despite the rhetoric of proponents, the Maine studies contain plenty of ammunition to defeat the four-lane highway proposal. Perhaps that is why proponents have demanded the federal government fund yet another analysis, even though capacity on existing east-west corridors is sufficient through at least 2030.

Decisions about highways should be informed by the likely outcomes for communities, but the east-west highway is all about profits for the trucking and construction industries. According to the studies, approximately 60 percent of total vehicle hours saved with a four-lane limited-access highway from Calais to Coburn Gore would flow to external users, i.e., Atlantic Canada shippers.

To those of us who value rural Maine and don’t want to be “en route to a destination,” the east-west highway is a solution desperately searching for a problem.

Pamela Prodan is an attorney living in Wilton.