Work together or there’ll be no north-south highway

This highway will not happen unless the residents of Aroostook County get together and agree on what they want.” Those words, spoken by then-Gov. Angus King at a highway study kick-off symposium held at the Caribou Inn & Convention Center in April 1999, prophesied some of the recent erroneous statements by a handful of vocal dissidents.

Gov. King was right. Transportation dollars are going to be allocated to projects and regions where the need and desire are clearly identified. Competition is intense for limited dollars. Discord, disagreement and dissent are more than adequate reasons for allocated dollars to be redirected to other projects.

Working with Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development (LEAD), then-Sen. George Mitchell ascertained clear and identifiable economic benefits to northern Maine by improving the highway system serving the region. Most people agree:

Our economy is less than healthy, and an improved highway system will not only ease personal travel, but also will be a big boost to our economy.

Most people agree: We need an improved north-south highway serving our region.

But, of course, the devil is in the details.

How and where improvements are made is subject for discussion and debate, the flavor of which is dependent on one’s perspective. And that’s the rub. There are many perspectives to consider. The Caribou Transportation Committee believes they all are being seriously considered. We take exception with recently printed remarks implying that Maine Department of Transportation officials and Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. (VHB) consultants are not listening to local concerns.

Our experience working with these folks to determine the best highway alternatives through Caribou has proven the opposite to be true. Their responsiveness has been impressive. Their willingness and desire to understand and work with local issues is commendable. As with every other community along the proposed corridor, Caribou has its own particular challenges and needs. DOT and VHB engineers and consultants have been generous with their time and their expertise, and have worked side by side with the Caribou Transportation Committee in working toward the best solution.

To those implying that an improved highway will dismember Aroostook County, we suggest that Aroostook County became dismembered in the 1960s, when construction of I-95 ended at Houlton. Since that time, people who call the Chamber of Commerce for informational packets about the community and the region often end the call with an additional request: that any maps sent to them indicate which roads are plowed in the winter and have access to electricity. They aren’t joking. They are looking at road maps that show the highway ending in Houlton, more than 60 miles south of their ultimate destination. They see a dismemberment that took us longer to realize.

We are struck by the number of disparities in the multitude of recent newspaper articles concerning the north-south highway project. One example is the assertion from some folks that the small communities between Houlton and

Presque Isle will be better served by a highway that follows the existing roadway, in essence dividing those communities in half, contrasted with the assertion from others that the Swedish colony will be poorly served by a highway dividing the colony in similar fashion.

Most disturbing, however, is the manner in which officials working diligently to provide us with a better highway system have been attacked and maligned. They have been accused of, among other transgressions, circumventing the process and not listening to people. They have been subjected to yelling, finger-pointing and fist-raising. Through it all they have maintained an admirable level of professionalism, treating every public meeting attendee with respect.

Public officials often have been criticized for spending tax dollars on consulting studies which sit on a shelf, serving no useful purpose. MDOT and VHB engineers working on the north-south highway project are experts in traffic safety, driving patterns and the environmental challenges inherent to new road construction and upgrading of existing corridors. They are being paid to help us design a safe and efficient highway system that meets the economic objectives of the study: to maintain and expand the Aroostook County economy as it affects population, employment, diversification of jobs, and income. It makes sense that we listen to them, at least as much as they are listening to us, and certainly more than we listen to those espousing falsehoods about the entire process.

If we all approach the highway project in a spirit of cooperation, working together to arrive at the best possible solutions, we can remember Angus King’s words with pride. A recent editorial, responding to one man’s attack against another, suggested the people of Aroostook County should expect more than hollow, negative rhetoric. We agree. We deserve more; we should expect more. If we work together, we’ll accomplish more, and we will have a highway system that truly meets our needs.

Lucinda J. Hebert of the Caribou City Council and Steven R. Buck , Caribou city manager, wrote this commentary on behalf of the Caribou Transportation Committee.