To the editor:
In late November, RKG Associates, in Durham, N.H., issued a “Presque Isle Bypass Economic Impact Study.” The memorandum seeks to give “an informed opinion regarding the potential economic impacts on businesses located in the downtown Presque Isle area, should the (easterly) Bypass be constructed.” The study had been requested by the city of Presque Isle. Based on earlier projections, the Presque Isle Bypass component of the “Aroostook County Transportation Study” could remove over 4,000 vehicles (including 530-550 trucks) per day from the downtown area — roughly a 25 percent reduction in vehicular traffic along Main Street.
The authors claim that “for businesses that lose sales due to the bypass, activity is not likely to drop by more than 10 percent.” Evidently they believe a 10 percent drop in yearly sales is insignificant.
Part of the study was a 15-question survey returned by 48 downtown businesses (response rate of 27 percent). A majority (65 percent) of the “fringe” businesses (northern and southern fringes of downtown) rated vehicular traffic volume as most important, whereas 33 percent (still a significant proportion) of the “core” downtown businesses rated vehicular traffic volume as the most important factor when compared to seven other specified factors (parking availability, affordable facilities, available space, proximity to customers, pedestrian traffic, tourist spending, and being close to home).
In the survey, business owners had an opportunity to write down comments related to enhancing their business viability, and any additional comments they would like to make. Such comments are often the most interesting (and important) part of a survey.
Downtown core businesses expressed very strongly that the negative impact of logging and agricultural trucks is great (noise, odors and safety), particularly around the heart of the downtown between State and Academy streets. At the same time, however, they worried about the impact of a bypass road on automobile traffic.
Most comments made by fringe businesses had to do with ensuring the continued traffic volume through the Main Street corridor. Some clearly stated a bypass would result in a loss of revenues.
The brief study does nothing to support a bypass. The solution to our transportation needs is not an 11-mile bypass through New England’s best farmland. Instead, it’s a 1.4-mile truck connector from the Fort Road to the Conant Road — which is what many of us have said to Maine’s Department of Transportation.
Presque Isle
