State should pull plug on PI bypass
To the edtior:
Whoa, Nellie! Couldn’t believe my eyes the other morning when I read a small, probably-buried-deep-in-the-paper-on-purpose item in the Bangor Daily News (8/3) describing a real, live person — with name attached even — from MDOT and his “pulling the plug on plans to build a bypass road around the town of Wiscasset.
Yes, it’s true — Maine’s transportation commissioner, David Bernhardt, made that decision “after evaluating the limited benefits and the high cost estimated at $100 million.”
Mercy, can you imagine someone working for the state, after all, having the wherewithal to do the right thing and having the sense to want to save state taxpayers lots of money? It’s a miracle, I tell you.
Now, if Commissioner Bernhardt can only take a good, hard look at the bypass project currently being considered to skirt the city of Presque Isle. Virtually no one wants it, except, of course, the town fathers (for reasons no one understands). And, besides, the state of Maine and the federal government are beyond broke and could hardly afford a pickaxe and shovel to begin said project.
So, Mr. Bernhardt, put your best thinking cap on and seriously consider pulling the plug on the not-so-popular Presque Isle bypass project. The vast majority of residents would love you; taxpayers would think you sit on the right hand of God and the town fathers (a small handful) will hate you. But who cares? Remember, they’re just a small handful and hardly represent the opinion of the vast majority of locals.
Mr. Bernhardt stand up and take a bow for your good sense. But I must say that somehow the Caribou bypass project now going on must have escaped your radar. That, too, should have been scrapped. Perhaps you were napping.
Dick Graves
Presque Isle
