My hat goes off to every Holden resident who attended the July 8 Holden town meeting regarding the east-west highway. Much to the surprise of many, more than 200 people packed the gym on a hot, humid summer night to reinforce the message that Holden, the town of impact, is not ready to quit.

For three years Holden has been held hostage by this process and by the Maine Department of Transportation. Not once has our town tried to shun this highway to surrounding towns. Rather, Holden’s planning board, town council and residents have worked as a united community and supported 2C1-2B1, also known as the Corporate Boundary Route, which makes sense for our town, surrounding towns and the region. Ninety-nine percent of the people who spoke at the meeting opposed the 3-EIK-2 route, and 68 percent of those people were not directly impacted by either of the remaining routes; they simply care about their town.

After three years and more than 50 town meetings, many people remain passionate and clear about one thing – we do not want this east-west highway dissecting our town and forever changing the rural character of Holden. Holden says no to 3EIK-2. Holden says no to the east-west highway.

Jacqueline Smallwood

Holden