Legislator suggests state purchase Golden Road Hearing on proposed study panel set for today

AUGUSTA – A legislator wants to form a commission to study a possible state purchase of the Golden Road, the private gravel road that traverses the north woods, linking Millinocket to the Quebec border.

Rep. Raymond Pineau, D-Jay, a retired paper industry worker who represents the Franklin County towns of Chesterville, Jay and New Sharon and the Somerset County towns of Mercer and Starks, has proposed a legislative resolve to form a commission to study the purchase of the road.

The Legislature’s Transportation Committee has scheduled a hearing on the proposal at 1 p.m. today.

Pineau said Monday the road was built in the mid-1960s by Great Northern Paper Co. The road, which is nearly 100 miles long, is now owned by four entities, he said.

Pineau said he does not know the names of the four parties that own the road, but said one of them contacted him to express opposition to the resolve.

With ownership not tied to a particular company, however, Pineau suggested maintenance might lapse.

The road is important to paper companies and loggers, Pineau said, as well as those who use it for recreational pursuits such as hunting, fishing and snowmobiling.

“It’s time to look at it,” Pineau said of a possible purchase.

Pineau did not have any estimate of what a purchase price might be, and said such details would emerge from a study of the issue.

Pineau is in his fourth term, and serves on the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee.