YORK, Maine — The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will honor the town of York’s request for a public hearing on the York toll plaza, setting in place a process that could forestall the project by as much as six months.
In a recent letter to Scott Anderson, the town’s toll plaza attorney, Deputy Commissioner Melanie Loyzim, said a public hearing is held when there is “credible conflicting technical information,” and it is warranted in this situation.
The town has long held that the Maine Turnpike Authority has not provided enough evidence about the viability of a cashless, or all-electronic, tolling system. Instead, it’s building a plaza that includes electronic and cash booth tolling.
In this particular instance, Loyzim wrote, studies and reports have been submitted by the town about all-electronic tolling, or AET, “that is purported to reduce or eliminate impacts to protected natural resources, and be a feasible alternative to the MTA proposal.” As such, the department determined an “open and transparent review” of AET through a public hearing process “would be most advantageous.”
The hearing process will require the DEP to investigate and respond in writing to the issues raised by the public. Robert Green, DEP project manager for the toll plaza project, said the hearing could take a day or even two, depending on the interest. “We don’t know how many people will want to speak out.”
Having said that, Green added “no new information has been brought up” by the town and citizens thus far. “All the arguments have been made in the recent past,” he said. “But we came to the conclusion that it’s better for the permitting process to have everything aired in the public hearing process.”
MTA Executive Director Peter Mills said if all the permitting had been granted without a hitch, work could have started as early as next summer, and he acknowledged the public hearing process will delay the start.
“But we have plenty to do” converting the entire toll system with new electronics. He said major and secondary plazas throughout the turnpike are being outfitted with the new technology.
“The York toll plaza is a component of a much larger concern. That process goes on and York will fit in at some point,” he said. “Frankly, we’re going to roll with it. We are prepared to start whenever the process is through and that’s fine.”
Town Manager Steve Burns called the DEP decision “the right thing to do. They are at least going to address this issue head-on. Credit to them on that,” he said.
No date has been set for the hearing. Green said information would be disseminated on the DEP page for the toll plaza project.
Meanwhile, the federal Army Corps of Engineers — the other agency that must issue a permit in order for the project to move forward — is still reviewing the application, said Jay Clement, senior project manager for Maine.
He said he will be formally requesting more information in writing from the MTA about all-electronic tolling. “There certainly is information that discusses that, but a number of points have been raised by folks that I don’t think have been adequately explored. There are some gaps in their response.” But he also termed the information he was seeking as “generally minor clarifications.”
He also said he’s seeking information on “background details” on the utilities and stormwater plans.
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