I am sure that this has been considered, but is a different route more feasible and cost effective?

If I were a Belfast business that depended on the tourist dollar, in the summer, I would be looking to someone to supplement the income that will be lost. Maybe it could be arranged to have all this happen between 2AM and 5AM, that may be of some help.

I agree that transporting the windmill parts during "off-peak" hours, if possible, would greatly reduce the negative traffic impact on the Belfast area. Everyone seems to want alternative energy but there's always someone willing to say "not in my backyard".

No reason at all for not doing this in early AM. Been working road projects for utilities for over 20 years and work is'nt done during peak traffic times. Just common sense. Now someone will complain about the trucks going by at night....

NO pellets stoves,

NO wood stoves,

NO Nuclear plants,

NO Coal,

NO wind power,

NO NO NO NO, then what?

BUT "..Belfast.......city to avoid gridlock...." where in any place in Maine is there traffic that is gridlocked?

The only thing close to gridlock happens during the summer on Friday afternoons in Wiscasset, York Beach, Ogunquit, etc., from the beautiful people driving their Mercedes to the shore and even to Belfast.

So a windmill is so gauche and dangerous, but car traffic which is the BIGGEST CAUSE OF GLAOBAL WARMING, is a concern?

Don’t get

Come On Joe: Let the turbines pass at night. There is hardly any tourist traffic at night through here.

And the Gov will spend another $ 40 million for the Land for Maine's (beautiful people") Future to "stimulate" the taking of more property. off the tax rolls and expand the trials and parks for the same people beautiful people, concerned about windmils, a place to lay under the stars and eat blueberry pie, while the rest of us work three jobs to pay for the fire, police, public works to keep roads and bridges safe and 'clear', and hospitals (though we have no health care coverage) with our dwindling tax base.

well oversize loads cannot travel after dark. i cant help but wonder why this is a suprise to the town council are they waiting for their piece of the pie

it would be better i think for the truckers moving the blades and turbines because if there is less traffic it will be easier for them to drive... in mass they are able to move machinery and oversize loads at night, but not in maine. it would be a lot easier and cost effective but then you'll hear people whine about the noise at night... if you don't like truck noise or congestion move to t-2 r-9 with drifty twitchell or whoever he is......

Solution: Why not install the wind turbines along the coast from Belfast south to Portland and also Belfast north to Ellsworth? Let all these coastal communties enjoy the beauty ofthe wind turbines and feel good about producing alternative energy?

Will any of this electricity go to the United States or will it all have to go to Canada because of the lack of suitable power transmission lines? I'm all for wind power but it seems like much of what is proposed in Northern Maine won't make it to the New England power grid.

Why doesn't it go by rail for at least a portion of the trip? I know that there isn't any railroad running through Coburn Gore, but it seems as though a portion by rail would ease the possibility for snarling highway traffic.

The city sounds like it is looking for a handout. 20 minutes out of the day is not a major amount of time. And like posters have said do it at night. The company has a lot of experience doing this and they can have all the trucks getting there as a convoy and move them through all together. This isn't rocket science. Typical not in my back yard mentality.

Another example of the wind industry not telling the whole story up front. They should pay a substantial fee to the city and or state for the variance needed for these transportation surprises. Transportation issues should be part of the LURC or DEP application process, not an afterthought.

Good chance to raise the 2 overpassess by 15' Trucks have been banging into them for years.

The wind blows much harder on the coast. BUT the people have more money to fight . First Wind and others typically select rural communites populated by the elderly and unemployed to site their wind farms. The Mars Hill wind farm went into the Canadian grid. The town thought it was just for them. First Wind would not admit , even after it was online, just where the power was going. If anything is good for Maine , there is no reason for secrecy. There is currently legislation, not passed, in ME to stop towns from having any voice in the siting of the wind farms. so..who knows ..Belfast just might get one.

First Wind neglected to obtain noise easements from the families close to the Mars Hill wind farm. Said they called and nobody was home/left a notice in the mailbox. At the Stetson Mt. wind farm a huge area was zoned commercial so the surrounding families did not need noise easements. Then the Director of LURC said nobody lived around Stetson Mt. That is the way it is done when govt. and corporations work together.

Oh, and the turbines were already in place ready for construction for Stetson II in Dec. LURC just o.k'd yesterday. so it must be the Rollins project they are concerned about. The fact that it is in litigation won't make too much difference. I am sure that there are some good judges who could use some extra money......with the down turn of the ecomy and all.

EVEN IF THEY HAVE TO HAVE DAYLIGHT, THAT TIME OF YEAR THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET ALL THE TRUCKS THRU BETWEEN 4AM AND 7AM

Mr. Slocum is right to be skeptical about the difficulty of movement of these massive components through Belfast. The "Big Wind" companies play down all the negatives and deceive people to get their way. This will create a bigger mess than you can imagine. Folks in Belfast need to turn out and view this convoy, not in awe, but in realistic terms. These are massive industrial structures. Kibby Mountain is being blasted away for this project and serious erosiion issues have been documented. Go to www.windaction.org to see the photos. The public policy of the State of Maine, if implemented, will require more than 30 wind projects the size of Kibby to be developed by 2015. None of the electricity and none of the profits stay in Maine. Another example of the pillaging of Maine's natural resources for the gain of out of staters. The sad part of this is the turbines generate a pittance of unpredictable, intermittent power that destabilizes the grid. Their value is not in creating energy, but for the owners to profit from tax subsidies.

I believe Mr. Slocum mis-spoke when he said "We all love wind power. Belfast is very pro-wind power." Based on the pointed questions at the Angus King speech at the Hutchinson Center on Tuesday, there are many people who are questioning wind power on an industrial scale. When "Big Wind" comes to the ridges on the western shores of Penobscot Bay, you will see many people in the Belfast area not want dozens of 389 foot tall turbines ting the region. Kibby Mt., Mars Hill, Stetson Mt., Roxbury, Lincoln Lakes may seem like distant places, but they are really everyone's "back yard". If you are someone who likes the idea of industrial scale wind projects because all you have heard or read is the propaganda of "Big Wind", look into the other side of the issue and you will find there is a litany of problems that make this a lousy proposition.

Come on Belfast you are forward thinking city embrace the wind power and use this to your advantage. It is press, promote it.

Those of us who live here will figure out how to get around it. If it has to happened during the day, get the tourist out of gridlock by getting them out of their cars!

Traffic delay, get those people into the park, on to main street shopping, down in the harbor and eating at the many establishments down town. Signs, specials, promotions, you want more tourism, with out a delay many travelers would just drive right past Belfast on route one. Council, you have the opportunity of having a captive audience, do not let it get away! Work with the wind project.

How about a small nuclear plant in the shape of a puffin?

Great idea fredrodgers! lol Maybe up north they could shape em into snowmobiles or sled dogs - then the public would really love em! lol

In the Village Soup version of the story they said said the trucks would be going through during NON PEAK traffic hours , ie the early morning..A point the BDN left out..Big Wind..LOL..Why do libs fear "BIG THINGS"???I won't go there here...LOL I don't see the problem of the trucks going through Belfast..It is pretty much a ghost town anyways...In the Village Soup story the "big wind" folks were laughed at for commenting Belfast would see business from truckers and workers staying in the area...Even the City council knows there is nothing in Belfast to attract the workers there to spend money...They will travel to Rockland or Bangor just like everyone else does...LOL...

The power in Mars Hill is sold to a customer to the south - not in Canada. The power passes through Canada until it is wheeled around and back into the State of Maine for further transmission south. As for the power being for the benefit of Maine, ask the landowner on Mars Hill how much benefit he gets . . . or the town for that matter. And if providing direct benefit to Maine only is a requirement - I guess BIW should be closed. After all, we haven't used any Aegis Destroyers in Maine lately. They typically go out of state!!!

FirstWind wasn't required to get noise easements in Mars Hill, or anywhere else - it is a choice the developers make, not a requirement. Different developer might make a different choice.

Transportation of turbines is part of the DEP/LURC process. DOT issues the permits.

And, yes - the turbines should be transported in non-peak times - no-brainer there.

Are you kidding me, the construction of a wind farm in the area and people are concerned about traffic? Come on folks do you have anything else to worry about?

Belfast is populated by whiny liberal transplants who try to out-PC one another...but when it comes to helping out with alternative energy, they all piss and moan about this?

Thanks, windfuture! I had tried to find out just where the power went from Mars Hill and when I called CMP they said it all went to Canada and the only way we would ever benefit from wind power from Northern Maine was if the PUC permitted CMP to build the new transmission lines. Today, on the WLBZ website there is a story about CMP wanting to build a 345,000-volt transmission line running from Newington, N.H. to Orrington.

When you read the article it says they hope to have public hearings in the spring. This will take as long as the Sears Island project to debate. Projected cost: $1.5 Billion Can you see price hikes in our future? These proposed lines don't go to Mars Hill or Kibby Mountain.

I keep checking Ebay to see if anyone has a cold fusion generator for sale but no luck yet.

Wow. Seriously, they can find pretty much ANYTHING to complain about. As most people have said, to it at off peak hours. Very late night or very early morning. They should allow this for the time allotted if oversize loads are not permitted at night. I mean, they just have to get the job done, then after that there will be no worries. They only thing I'm concerned about it the power not benefiting our state. I mean, if all the power goes out, then why the heck are we even doing this??

Doesn't Maine also have a great place for ships of near any size with just about any cargo to come in at Eastport -- and gee, I think the place has got some pretty straight-shot roads and not a whole lot of traffic congestion to worry about, even in summertime. Of course the wizards trying to figure this all out might also think about enlisting the services of an aerial lifting company that has one or two Sikorsky Sky Cranes ready to do some work . . . .

They need a Wisconsin trucking company to move these big pinwheels? What happened to hiring Maine workers? The blades are made in Brazil, the masts are made in Europe and the fiberglas nacelles are made in Florida at least. The Belfast town officials are self serving if they are in favor of wind power or just plain haven't been paying attention. These projects are subsidy farms as they make negligible erratic power that disrupts grids. The CEO of FirstWind makes over 1.5 million in salary. Do you think these guys deserve tax breaks and subsidies? Kick them back to Mass and Conn. Maine cannot afford to build the infrastructure they want. Kibby should never have been permitted as it is too steep and will ALWAYS have erosion problems , not that wind weenies care. Apparently LURC and the DEP have been bribed as they are negligent in protecting our environment. Bernie Madoff would be proud of the wind schemes these MassConn scammers have invented. Tourism will take a big hit when these windmill skyscrapers are put up. People will go elsewhere for rest and relaxation. FirstWind is putting up a 100 windmill project OFFSHORE in Rhode Island, after saying they do not have the technology to do so. YOU CANNOT BELIEVE ANYTHING THEY SAY! DEMAND YOUR TOWN OFFICIALS SEEK THE TRUTH! Traffic congestion will be the LEAST of Belfast's worries.

LarrySG has the right idea...absolutely restrict this project to 2AM to 5AM.

couldn't the wind mills be transported by helicopter or how about using the rail road to move them. I got a Idea why not let the canadian company that is building them bring them through canada they are going to be bult on the "Skinner townships near Coburn Gore in Franklin County on the Quebec border"

They should not be constricting traffic flow during our peak income months. Decisions have to be sensitive to the businesses that need that income in order to survive in Maine, which in most cases is only 5 months per year.

We should embrace this and be happy that we as Mainers can do our part to help solve the energy crisis. We should shut down the streets for a few

hours to let the parts come in. We can call it a parade. I for one would attend. RR