It seems odd that, with the huge backlog of needed
road improvements, including several in Cape Elizabeth and South
Portland, a brand new highway is being given serious consideration by
the state transportation officials.

    Hopefully, the citizens of Maine (or at least the
majority of them who bother to vote) will pass the three rounds of bond
referendum recently approved by the Legislature.

    Passing those bonds will do a great deal to clear
that backlog and allow the state as well as local officials to take a
more proactive look at our transportation system instead of (quite
literally) filling holes in the current stock of roads, bridges and
railways.

    A turnpike spur connecting the western approaches to
Portland, such as they are, to the system of highways, bypasses and
toll roads in the immediate vicinity will make Maine a more
economically viable place in which to live, work and attract new
business.

    Maine's road system is too constricted to
efficiently move the goods, services and people necessary in a modern
economy.

    Some believe that building such a road will
contribute to more sprawl by making it easier for people to choose to
live further away from their jobs in the traditional population centers.

    While sprawl is one of the greatest threats to the
character and vitality of Maine, it must be recognized that efficient
roads do not create sprawl, it is lax local zoning and poor residential
and commercial planning.

    –Ward Peck