MONSON, Maine — All of the residents who went to Tuesday night’s public hearing and special town meeting about whether to impose a six-month moratorium on privately owned highways and utility corridors endorsed the ban.
“We did it by a show of hands,” Town Manager Julie Anderson said Wednesday afternoon. “We had 47 yes [votes] and zero on the nays.”
The 180-day moratorium is specifically designed to stop progress in town on a proposed east-west highway, a 220-mile privately funded toll highway to connect Calais to Coburn Gore.
“It went very well,” Anderson said of the meeting. “At the public hearing we had some questions and the planning board answered them and told them the whole purpose of the moratorium.”
While the exact route for the planned four-lane roadway has not been announced, “we were one of the routes in consideration,” Town Selectman Bryant Brown said Monday.
“What will come out of the 180 days is codes so we can keep our place the way it is,” he said later, adding that provisions allow for another 180-day extension, if needed.
This is a great example of what thirty years of entitlements does for economic growth.
“The 180-day moratorium is specifically designed to stop progress in town on a proposed east-west highway, a 220-mile privately funded toll highway to connect Calais to Coburn Gore.”
What progress in town are they stopping?
It isn’t like there is much of a town there to start with and hopefully they get there wish and there never is.
Exactly. Some of us in Maine want progress and want this state to be great again.
and the East-west highway does this? No, No it does not.
And you know this how?
and you know that the east west will? Pretty big gamble.
No risk, no reward. What are our other options? Sit on our butts and let parts of the state wither and die? Or should we wait until every paper mill is shut down? Then everyone who relied on the mills for work will be out of jobs and living off the state.
I have yet to hear of a decent alternative. And don’t say trains because that would cost more and yeild less.
A better alternative would be to widen Route one into 4 lanes from downeast to Ellsworth and then widen Route 1A into Bangor. This would give direct 4 lane access to the eastern seaboards deepest natural port, Eastport. Then we develop the port to receive Ultra Large Container Ships and cash in on the offshoring of American jobs. All that cheap crap coming in from “American” companies has to make landfall some where, why not Eastport? We could also bring in ships being scrapped by the U.S. government ( under law they have to be broken up here now) and put thousands of Mainers to work dismantling ships.
395 extension would have helped a lot.As always that was turned down also.
Do tell how having a trucking route to get goods to and from Maine will not help the economy.The bonus being the money is not coming from unfunded stimulus or Augusta.
This road will no help Maine businesses, Mr, Dis-Info. it is a utility corridor for a shale piple line power lines and what ever will fit on a 2000 fooot wide swath of land… here is a picture for you, a road from canada to canada, oil piple lines high powered line etc,etc. In the highway bill that peter got passed it state that if someone builds a private highway in Maine nobody has any say over what happens on it for 50 years, Mainers will not be able to object.. Why did he need to get that bill passed?
In reply to Mr entitlement rhetoric. One must be a real idealog to believe a privately funded highway to get Maine goods in and out of the state is not a benefit.Time to replace clinics with jobs this is a great start .
This is a private highway and oil pipeline corridor that connects one Canadian Province with another.
A bad idea for Maine.
Good! Now more towns need to do the same and put to rest this ridiculous highway idea. It is not good for Maine. It will have minimal Maine traffic and it will be an autobahn for Canada to ship its own goods.
Close-minded thinking like this is the reason that Maine is at the bottom of every economic list.
Ya know…you can always move out of state if you don’t like Maine the way it is.
And you think everything is great right now? Rampant drug use and violence, a population dependent on state aid and every educated young person leaving as soon as possible.
Yeah we are doing great. FYI I was born and raised here and plan on dying here. It breaks my heart to see this once great state in it’s current condition.
i was born and rised in monson and i left as soon as i turn 18 and that was in the 80’s maine was never a great state that you make it out to be. There has never been any good jobs to keep the young there. so here is your fyi . my family is one of the oldest in monson. so i would know
He wouldn’t be able to leave if I95 was never built. I suppose you hate that project as well?
The road is of no benifit to Maine… it is a canada to canada byepass
I agree. This highway isn’t at all about helping Mainers traverse the state, if it was they’d choose another location for it. And it would have more than 8 exits/on ramps across that whole span. Its all about getting Maritime provinces freight to other provinces and to incorporate a utilities corridor into the future plans of this highway. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out that Irving Oil has agreed to fund a very substantial portion of this project.
Just have the highway bypass the town of Monson, then everybody will be happy.
Seems more like townspeople saying “we would rather not have the state shove this project down our throats in the name of ecdev where the benefits are not at all clear”. Good job Monson
I applaud you Monson residents. Personally, I ‘m not at all sure that the highway is the real issue with most folks, it’s the potential large utilities corridor in between the east and west bound lanes that’s more of an issue. Oil pipeline, natural gas pipeline, huge electrical transmission lines, and even a strong possibility of those useless wind turbines on all the high ground areas.
Vigue will not commit to contractually eliminate such a utilities corridor, he only says that there is nothing in the initial plans ….how stupid does he think we are?
Let’s just continue the north south trips to Bangor for food stamps and methadone.Much better than economic development.People screaming about higher wages yet they allow no development.
Timmie the road is not for Maine business.
you really believe Maine business would not use this highway,PLEASE!.I get a lot of products for my business from canada.The have to cross into new york and come back up to Maine.My guess would be i would save a lot of freight charges if they could come directly into Maine.That would give me the chance to compete with other business’s out of state by lowering my costs.
That’s a little too deep for some of the armchair “entrepreneurs” on this forum.
Single syllable words only, please.
I do not like the East West Highway. Lets hope the whole thing dies a slow death.
Wonder how moosehead manufacturing is doing without a good way to ship in and out of Maine?
you have no clue as who will use the highway. I believe you work for Peter for disinfo. Just say no to the road….
Peters project not cianbros. unless the Canadian government pays to have the road built Peter will have a hard sell on this one for investors.. Their is no payback. it is impossible to make money on this private road..
Moosehead is still selling product, built in china.. like most factories in this country, that were close to highways. so your comment is not valid.
I believe you work for the DNC. Entitlements for votes not jobs.Just say yes to the no cost to taxpayer new road.Benefits all except Dems.
China has a very efficient transportation system.
Go Monson Go!
The PQ Government doens’t want this road, they could care less. It is not at all close to where they would want a highway. “FACT”… This is for IRVING’S utility corridor, period.. I know PQ Government officals think it’s stupid and Peter is getting no help for that side. PNB and Irving want it… Think about it for one minute, 2 paper mills in Maine Might use it, So it has to be a utility corridor
Peter must have orderED the BDN to take the story off the front page..
I searched Monson and found this buried article. Good job!!