‘No build’ still an option for proposed Presque Isle bypass

16 years ago

To the editor:
    As many of you recall, the public hearing on the proposed Presque Isle Bypass, conducted by the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) on Aug. 15, 2006 at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center, was standing room only. The Center had run out of chairs.     Attendance was almost 300. The overwhelming sentiment in testimony that evening was against building the bypass. The lone voice favoring the bypass was that of Sam Collins, representing Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development (LEAD), a Caribou-based nonprofit organization, with direct and identifiable for-profit interests. Evidently, that resounding display of public opinion favoring No-Build fell on deaf ears at MDOT.
    It’s important to note that Mr. Jay Clement of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) did not attend the MDOT public hearing Aug. 15, 2006. He did not observe first-hand the enormous concern about building an easterly Presque Isle bypass.
    On June 18, MDOT submitted a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit application to Jay Clement, USACE, to “conduct work [dredging and filling] in waters [including wetlands] of the United States.” These waters are all in the Aroostook River watershed.
    The application contains maps showing four bypass alignments. MDOT still hasn’t identified a preferred alignment. The public should take notice that to upgrade Route 1 and the No Build option are still on the table.
    Even if you are not directly affected, you will pay the tax bill. By its own admission, the MDOT study and the impact study for Presque Isle admit the price is high and the benefit to Presque Isle’s downtown is negligible.
    This project will not be paid for by the special interests driving it. The costs will fall to the next generation of taxpayers too. You don’t have to be of voting age to participate. Young adults under age 18 can also send a statement of their feelings (and request for a public hearing) to Mr. Clement. The future of Presque Isle belongs to them more than to those of us over 50.
    The deadline for comments is Octt. 23rd. Our public role continues. Write to: Jay Clement, USACE, 675 Western Avenue #3, Manchester, ME 04351. Just a postcard will do. Or e-mail him at jay.l.clement@usace.army.mil . Request a public hearing (in Presque Isle) for Notice #NAE-2008-02480. Tell him why. It’s your choice. Environmental damage to our land, streams, and loss of our homes and farms comes first to my mind.
    Then cost. No Build has no taxpayer price tag. Any one of the alignment “alternatives” would top $100 million. This would make the relocation of Presque Isle’s wastewater diffuser to the Aroostook River — forced on the city by the state — look like a miniature “development” project.

Steve Sutter
Presque Isle