YORK - One of the biggest holiday weekends of the summer season brought with it snail-pace traffic for miles on Interstate 95.
However, members of the Board of Selectmen were quick to point out that backup of traffic had nothing to do with the Maine Turnpike Authorities claims of safety and capacity needs at the York Toll Plaza.
Selectman Ted Little, speaking on July 7 in reference to the town's ongoing fight to keep the Maine Turnpike Authority from building a new plaza that would result in the loss of local homes and lands, described to his fellow board members the scene on the highway as visitors headed home after the Fourth of July weekend. The southbound traffic was, he said, backed up from the Piscataqua River Bridge in Kittery all the way to York.
"It's not the York toll booth, it's the bridge to New Hampshire backing up the traffic for miles," Little said.
He also pointed out the traffic pattern mirrored what members of York's Think Again have been saying since the MTA announced a plan to move the plaza to one of four prospective sites in York.
Think Again is a grassroots coalition of local residents working to prevent the MTA from going through with its plan to build a new 21-lane high-speed toll plaza on Interstate 95 in York. The project's price tag has been listed in the vicinity of $40 million. The York and Ogunquit Boards of Selectmen, as well as other town officials, have given strong support to Think Again's effort, and the MTA is now in the process of examining alternatives to its proposed sites.
However, officials and members of Think Again are skeptical in the face of information released to date by the MTA, questioning whether the authority is exercising due diligence in exploring whether the current plaza can be repaired at its present location.
Members of Think Again met with Jay Clement of the Army Corps of Engineers on July 2 to discuss the status of the MTA project, which will ultimately require Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife approval, as well as Army Corps of Engineers oversight.
Updating the selectmen on that meeting, Town Manager Rob Yandow explained that he and Selectwoman Kinley Gregg attended what he described as a "good productive informational meeting."
Yandow said the goal was to gather information on the role of the Army Corps of Engineers in the approval process, as well as to get a sense of the timeline moving forward. The Maine Turnpike Authority and its engineering firm, HNTB, are working on a Phase 1 report of the project, Yandow said, which will be followed by a more detailed Phase 2 report and, once that report is filed, a 30-day public comment period.
Clement advised those present at the recent meeting that the Army Corps does not become formally involved in the project until the DEP permit is issued for an approved site, Yandow noted.
Following Yandow's update, Selectmen Vice Chairman Dave Marshall reiterated the town's willingness to look at funding for technical or legal assistance in the toll relocation fight should that become necessary.
For more information on the local effort to stop any move that results in the loss of homes and land, visit www.thinkagain2008.com.
