12.26.2015 | Another glimpse at a page from a future newsletter.
12.23.2015 | Working on a future newsletter – here’s a quick glimpse.
12.19.2015: 4 years ago!!
Click here to view December 15, 2011 email.
12.16.2015: The MaineDOT may have shown their hand on the future of up to 30 more bridges in rural Maine at a time when the MaineDOT can’t even afford to maintain the roads and bridges we already have. They bemoan an annual $70 million in unmet bridge needs while vigorously promoting an expenditure of $61 million on an alternative (2B-2) that only met 20% (1 of 5) of purpose and needs in Apr 2009. 2B-2 was given the appearance of meeting purpose and needs by Dec 2010 by changing the study to make 2B-2 fit!! Note their use of: “inconvenience and angst”. They just don’t get it…
Click here to view complete Portland Herald article.
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Click here to view complete WCSH Channel 6 article.
12.15.20.15: In anticipation of the ROD (Record of Decision) and to tie up loose ends for the end of the 15th year of this study – December 2015 Newsletter.
Click here to view complete document.
12.11.2015: This email speaks for itself.
12.09.2015: Email in reference to Bangor Daily News Article titled “Controversial Presque Isle bypass in Sight”.
Click here to view complete email.
12.03.2015: Portland Herald Article (excerpted).
Click here to view complete article.
12.03.2015: Bangor Daily News Article.
Click here to view complete article.
11.28.2015: Bangor Daily News Article.
Click here to read complete article.
11.22.2015: Bangor Daily News Article.
Click here to view complete article.
11.19.2015: Latest update from the MaineDOT.
10.28.2015: Bangor Daily News article reference a new report by TRIP on the condition of Maine’s bridges. We patiently wait for the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study FHWA Record of Decision (ROD) at the same time that a new transportation bond is awaiting voters, and TRIP reminds us once again of the poor condition of our state’s bridges. On one hand, the MaineDOT can’t afford to maintain the roads and bridges we already have while documenting $70 million in unmet bridge needs per year in their current work plan, but on the other hand they have no problem supporting a $61 million deficient project (2B-2) that does not satisfy the original Purpose and Needs and is nothing more than a band-aide on a problem that doesn’t exist anymore; the original concern was to get logging trucks off Route 46 and now that the mill is gone Canadian truckers have now become the replacement concern!!?? Aren’t there enough unmet transportation needs in this state that could better use 2B-2’s $61 million?
Click here to view complete article and use hyperlinks.
Click here to view complete TRIP report.
10/25/2015: A new transportation bond and continued budgetary shortfalls – what you need to know…
Click here to view complete document.
10/01/2015: It took three weeks, but FHWA Public Affairs finally acknowledged my September 10th email to FHWA Administrator Nadeau and Transportation Secretary Foxx. I say acknowledged, because once again, none of the questions were answered. In December 2013, the bat issue was addressed by the FHWA and the MaineDOT as a non-issue. There are plenty of “real” issues with 2B-2 to discuss; how about the significant safety concerns documented by the MaineDOT and the FHWA when they removed 2B from further consideration in January of 2003? Some of the same MaineDOT/FHWA transportation professionals from 2003 will not revisit what they once said about this stretch of Route 9, I guess none of that is considered substantive!! So – our questions and concerns will be addressed in the ROD; where have we heard that before? Just like the DEIS, nothing that paints 2B-2 in a negative fashion will ever be addressed by this group; they hide behind the same federal regulations that are supposed to protect us, not used against us…
9/23/2015: Bangor Daily News Letter to the Editor for Thursday, September 24th.
9/19/2015: Bangor Daily News Letter to the Editor for Monday, September 21st.
9/15/2015: The latest MaineDOT Status Update.
9/10/2015: Email sent to the Secretary of Transportation and the FHWA Administrator this morning says it all!!
Follow the email string back to June of 2013 with Mr. Solomon and note that they really never answer any questions directly – just a lot of parsing of words, a little tap dance and a lot of governmentese. Mr. Solomon is the Federal Highway Administration, Point of Contact for Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Click here to view email string from June 2014.
9/09/2015: The STIP comment period has closed – here are Gretchen’s comments.
This was just the cover letter-click here to view complete document.
9/04/2015: No longer a draft, a hard-copy was sent to the MaineDOT via USPS Priority Mail this morning with a back-up copy via email. Enjoy your holiday weekend and don’t forget to email your concerns to the MaineDOT.
Click here to view entire document.
9/02/2015: This letter speaks for itself. I would like to thank Brewer Mayor Vachon and the Brewer City Council for their continued support.
9/01/2015: For those that may be new to this website and want to see bureaucracy at its finest, click this link to read Gretchen’s March 2013 FOAA briefing document.
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Be sure to check out the newly updated Media page on this site. Three radio interviews, each about 15-20 minutes long, and if you listen to any of them, you’ll get the 101 on what’s been going on and what the issues are regarding the MDOT’s actions and choice of connector route alternative 2B-2.
8/31/2015: Comments to the STIP from Bill Butterfield of Brewer.
Click here to view complete document.
8/27/2015: Gretchen on The Pulse AM 620.
Click here to listen to Gretchen’s interview.
8/27/2015: Many are unaware there are near-term and long-term needs associated with 2B-2. What will happen 20 years from now and how much will it add to the $61 million initial cost of this project or will they simply cut Eddington in half by limiting Route 9 local access? This was submitted to the Bangor Daily News 8/27 @ 3:45 p.m.
8/26/2015: Gretchen was on the radio this morning.
Click here for WZON Facebook page.
8/25/2015: Bangor Daily News article posted on website. Remember when you were told last January that the project was not in the 3 year Work Plan and you thought you could get a rest from this for at least 3 years; guess again – these plans are often amended…
Click here to view complete article.
8/25/2015: Gretchen will be on the radio – AM 620 – tomorrow morning – that’s Wednesday the 26th @ 7:05 am.
8/21/2015: The STIP Comment Period has been extended to Sept. 8th per Gretchen’s “request” to the MaineDOT. This may be the very last time to echo in with your concerns about this project.
Click here to for MaineDOT I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study Website.
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Click here to view emails from Gretchen to the MaineDOT that led up to this change.
8/19/2015: Latest news @ 8:41 pm; several emails between Gretchen, MaineDOT/Russ Charette and MaineDOT/Scott Rollins brings us to a better use of the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study Website. That’s a good step in the right direction; hopefully the time for commenting will be extended to allow extra time for public comments. Hopefully, we can rely on this site for all updates in the future and everyone, not just a select few, will have access to the same information at the same time. Several of us already check this site, the MaineDOT website and also the Federal Register on a daily basis.
8/19/2015: An email today from MaineDOT/Charette to Gretchen contained these two attachments. Another missed opportunity for offering comments in opposition to 2B-2 and a false impression that there is no opposition. After 30 days, no public comments were received and apparently the vote to provide these funds hinged on not receiving negative comments. Our transportation agencies are fully aware that we, as common citizens, lack the ability to work within the myriad of regulations that they do every day of the week and often hide behind said regulations. We were completely unaware of this BACTS Notice and one has to ask why our tax dollars are paying for the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study website that should have been the logical home for items like this Notice and the MaineDOT Notice below. Someone in the MaineDOT must have been aware of this and should have let us know.
8/18/2015: To clarify, this notice was found by searching MaineDOT STIP; this notice, one of the final steps to project approval, was not provided as a MaineDOT Study Update to the impacted communities. If we hadn’t tripped over this, how would we have known it existed until it was too late to comment upon? Note that the comment period closes on August 25th. Why wasn’t this information freely provided in a timely fashion? Back in Jan 2012, the MaineDOT apologized for not keeping us updated and promised to do a better job in the future; here we go again!!
8/17/2015: To those who say this will never happen, this was just recently posted.
8/17/2015: This speaks for itself; happy reading…
Click here to view complete document.
8/10/2015: It’s been a while since my two February newsletters. August 2015 Newsletter is a compilation of what has occurred since, including several emails to and from FHWA management that some may recognize – a good summary of the many documented problems with this study to date.
The FHWA acknowledges that the DEIS/FEIS-stated-cost of 2B-2 ($61 million) was based on “rolling design criteria” and not the DEIS/FEIS-stated “freeway design criteria”. A word search of the DEIS and the FEIS will not find the word “rolling” as it pertains to design criteria. Why is that? If these changes were made during the preparation of the DEIS, published in March 2012, why wasn’t the design criteria changed in the FEIS, published in January 2015, to “rolling” when they had 3 years to do it and anyone using any word processing program could have automatically corrected the document to replace the word “freeway” with “rolling” in mere minutes?
Why was 2B-2 analyzed using completely different design criteria than the rest of the 79+ studied alternatives or better put, on Dec 13th 2011, FHWA/Mark Hasselmann advised MaineDOT that from that point forward, because of the changes in design criteria, the study was an “apples to oranges” comparison and the preferred alternative (2B-2) did not satisfy the Purpose and Needs. I believe strongly that the DEIS/FEIS was not changed to make sure that the study appeared (at least on the outside looking in) compliant with NEPA while “wink-wink” we all know different. And, no-one in these many government agencies seems to have a problem with this activity and in fact it appears to be normal operation. The study goes on and it may end soon with a $61 million price tag to construct a deficient alternative (2B-2) while we lack the funds to maintain our existing roads and bridges.
Click here to view complete August 2015 Newsletter.
8/06/2015: Federal Highway Administration Road and Bridge Data by State (excerpted) updated July 9, 2015.
8/06/2015: BDN reports on “a possible resolve about whether to support or oppose the state’s preferred route for the planned Interstate 395-Route 9 connector road.”
11/26/2015: UPDATE from the minutes of the August 4th 2015 Eddington Selectman’s Meeting; after several residents spoke up about the Board’s sudden turn-around of the February 24th Resolution of SUPPORT for 2B-2, the Board of Selectman voted 4 to 1 “to take no action on any resolve, for any route that has to do with the I395 connector.” (Eddington Selectman/State Representative Lyford opposed.) If you’re keeping track, Eddington has now passed two resolves of non-support, one resolve of support and now a resolve to take no action either way.
8/03/2015: I was asked the other day how many bridges the MaineDOT was responsible for and here is an updated (2014) number from MaineDOT’s “Keeping Our Bridges Safe”.
Click here to view the complete KOBS report.
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Click here to view complete article.
8/03/2015: The last three project status update emails; something seems to be amiss.
Click here to view MaineDOT STIP homepage.
8/01/2015: A short-term Highway Trust Fund patch is passed by Congress.
“Another short-term extension is not my preference, and it’s not going to get
the job done when it comes to fixing our infrastructure problems,”
U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said in a statement Thursday.
“But letting the Highway Trust Fund go broke is not an option.”
Click here to view complete Bangor Daily News article.
7/29/2015: We are about to have the fifth MaineDOT Project Manager for this Study per the latest Status Update. The update is that there is no update…
7/16/2015: “As I explained in my letter on May 11, 2015, revenue will continue to be deposited in the Highway Trust Fund, but FHWA will not have the authority to provide project sponsors with any additional contract authority for new or ongoing projects. Similarly, FHWA will be required to furlough employees, which means your agency will cease having access to personnel who assist with all highway projects, not just with processing payments, but also project approvals, environmental actions and permitting, authorizations for new projects and modifications to existing projects, technical assistance and other vital activities we all rely on FHWA to conduct.”
“…FHWA will not have the authority to provide project sponsors
with any additional contract authority for new or ongoing projects.”
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“…FHWA will be required to furlough employees…”
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“…your agency will cease having access to personnel who assist with all highway projects, not just with processing payments, but also project approvals, environmental actions and permitting, authorizations for new projects and modifications to existing projects, technical assistance and other vital activities…”
7/9/2015: “Did you not know this already?”
6/28.2015: “Forecasts and assumptions about ever-increasing traffic are often used to justify agency decisions to expand roads. But these assumptions are increasingly divorced from reality. In fact, state and regional agencies aren’t just wrong some of the time. State DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations are getting it wrong every year, over and over again, by significant margins, according to SSTI’s analysis.”
It’s not hard to imagine that vehicle count can be “massaged” to make an argument with higher projected traffic counts or lower projected traffic counts, whatever is needed to meet engineering desires to build a project. (The high initial projected traffic counts presented at the start of this Study were so vehemently disputed by the Town of Holden that the town hired their own traffic consultant to argue the presented data.)
In September 2010, after a decade into the Study and only after vernal pools became an issue, all five alternatives satisfying 100% of the Study Purpose and Needs in April 2009 were removed from further consideration and alternative 2B-2, only satisfying one (20%) of the Study Purpose and Needs in April 2009, was relegated to the preferred alternative. Route 9, following the vernal pool issue and without any discussion with the PAC or the leaders of the affected communities, was suddenly deemed to have enough traffic capacity to support alternative 2B-2’s near-term System Linkage Need for the 20 year design life of the project to the year 2030; this was the infamous “September 2010 hard-look at Route 9”. In January 2012, for inclusion in the DEIS and carried forward in the FEIS, Route 9 was magically deemed to have enough traffic capacity to support 2B-2’s near-term System Linkage Need for the 20 year design life of the project to the year 2035; to the year 2035, as defined in the FEIS, is December 2034. I (LA) personally pointed out to FHWA HDQ that alternative 2B-2 did not/could not satisfy the Study Purpose and Needs for the full 20 year life design of the project since there weren’t even 20 years left from the time of the FEIS to December 2034 – the period of time exceeding December 2034 does not/cannot satisfy Study Purpose and Needs. Essentially if 2B-2 was to be completed 2 to 3 years from the date of the FEIS – 2B-2 would not satisfy Purpose and Needs for a 2 to 3 year period. What was the resolve to my charges? FHWA HDQs advised that I was absolutely correct in my assumption of the 20 year design life and I was told that the MaineDOT took another “hard look” at the traffic numbers and changed the design year to 2040!! Projections are nothing more than a guesstimate; should a guesstimate be the basis for a $61 million expenditure for a connector that does not meet the original Study Purpose and Needs at a time when we can’t even afford to maintain the existing infrastructure?
FACTS: There are 13 structurally deficient bridges within ten miles of where 2B-2 connects to I-395 (expanded view) in Brewer. An average of 119,842 vehicles cross these deficient 13 bridges every day. The current MaineDOT workplan contains unmet bridge needs of $70 million per year.
6/14/2015: Just a reminder where Maine ranks out in the percentage of poor condition major rural roads (8th worst) and the percentage of structurally deficient rural bridges (9th worst) across the 50 states per the latest TRIP report on rural roads. Shouldn’t this be the priority for the MaineDOT and not the construction of a connector that does not satisfy the Study Purpose and Needs?
6/10/2015: An interesting comment from MaineDOT Commissioner Bernhardt on August 1st 2011. Cancelling the I395/Route 9 Transportation Study would free up $61 million that could go a long way to support the unmet transportation needs of the State of Maine.
Click here to read complete official MaineDOT press release.
6/10/2015: A Press Herald article dated 5.20.2015 with some interesting observations.
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“…as the transportation agency struggles to maintain the existing infrastructure.”
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“…the money collected from the gas tax can fund the engineering and
design of road and bridge projects, but not actual construction.”
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“…we don’t have a penny to spend on a road or a bridge. Nothing.”
The I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study has been ongoing since the year 2000. By Sept 2010 (3EIK-2) the original preferred alternative was removed and replaced with alternative 2B-2, an alternative that does not satisfy the original Study Purpose and Needs. 2B-2’s coronation was not known by the general public until January 2012. How much has this study cost us so far? I believe it has cost $2.75+ million to date and the study continues. Why expend those kind of funds when we apparently do not have the money to even maintain the roads and bridges we already have, let alone spend another $61+ million on an alternative that many do not see the need for.
6/9/2015: Latest project status update from the MaineDOT. Updates come few and far between and we really appreciate when they do come. However, if you look at the Study Update from June 8th and compare it to the Study Update from April 21st – what has really changed? Why is this taking so long?
MaineDOT project status report dated 6.08.2015
MaineDOT project status report dated 4.21.2015
5/26/2015: Has Maine’s transportation budgetary environment improved one iota since Commissioner Bernhardt made this statement on August 1, 2011? Absolutely not!! And in fact, record shortfalls in the current MaineDOT work plan (@ $119 million per year) say it may have even worsened…
5/26/2015: Reuters reports on the state of Maine’s bridges.
Click here to view complete article:
5/26/2015: ARTBA Profile of State of Maine Bridges.
5/24/2015: ROADS & BRIDGES reports on the state of Maine’s Roads and Bridges. No matter who reports on the current condition of Maine’s roads and bridges, the facts speak for themselves. Not one NEW project should be taken on until our state’s existing infrastructure is repaired and/or replaced to an acceptable level. When 33% of the state’s rural bridges need immediate attention, is that acceptable? When only 27% of the state’s rural roads are rated good while 74% of the rest of our state’s rural roads are rated fair and mediocre to poor, is that acceptable? Should we all be proud that there are basically as many rural roads rated poor (26%) as there are rated good (27%)? And at the same time that our infrastructure crumbles, MaineDOT/FHWA promotes a preferred alternative (2B-2) for the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study with a $61 million price tag that does not satisfy the original Purpose and Needs of the Study – is that acceptable?
5/22/2015: American Society of Civil Engineers blogs the status of the Highway Trust Fund.
5/20/2015: Channel 2 WLBZ report on Maine’s Rural Roads and Bridges from TRIP.
5/19/2015: Latest TRIP report on rural roads in the United States/State of Maine.
The “Top (WORST in the NATION) 20”:
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74% of Maine’s rural arterial and major collector roads are rated as fair to mediocre to poor; only 27% are rated as good – that’s not something that any of us should be proud about!!
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15% of Maine’s rural bridges are Structurally Deficient AND 16% of Maine’s rural bridges are Functionally Obsolete – that’s a total of 31% (619) of Maine’s rural bridges that need immediate attention!!
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Click here to view complete TRIP Report Appendix D
Click here to view complete TRIP Report Appendix E
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How can we possibly afford to make these necessary repairs when the MDOT’s current work plan includes a shortfall of $119 million per year NOT INCLUDING the $61 million cost of a deficient connector (2B-2) that does not satisfy the original Study Purpose and Needs and many see no reason for??
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Click here for BDN Letter to the Editor dated February 24, 2015.
5/14/2015: Bangor Daily News article.
5/05/2015: ASCE article “Highway Trust Fund Insolvency: 30 Days and Counting.” The largest source of transportation dollars will be insolvent within 30 days and plans for the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study keep moving on. $2.75 million has already been spent on the study with an estimated $61 million (2011 dollars) for construction of an alternative (2B-2) that does not meet the original Study Purpose and Needs. Hmmm…
4/30/2015: House proposes cuts to TIGER and transit construction, stable funding for other programs for fiscal 2016. “…TIGER program would shrink for $500 million to $100 million.” Another source of funding is rapidly decreasing and the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study keeps moving on…
4/29/2015: MBTA’s contest reveals some very disturbing facts:
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“Between 46 and 91 percent of the pavement on our state’s arterial and collector roads is ranked poor or worse, compared to 31 percent nationwide.” “On average, Maine bridges are older and in worse condition than rest of the nation’s bridges (15% of Maine bridges are structurally deficient and another 18% are functionally obsolete).”
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And we need to construct 2B-2, an alternative that does not meet the original Purpose and Needs of the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study? WHY?? Couldn’t that $61 million be better spent on the unmet transportation needs of our state?
4/29/2015: ‘What is the worst road in Maine?’ “According to MaineDOT, we should be spending between $120 and $150 million more every year…” And yet, the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study – with a construction cost of $61 million in 2011 dollars – keeps moving on. How many potholes could be repaired with that $61 million plus the $2.75 million already spent on the study so far?
4/24/2015: Gretchen asked the MaineDOT for a project update and received this response from the project manager:
4/3/2015: Latest information from the FHWA dated 4/2/2015.
3/16/2015: Latest FHWA data (December 31, 2014) on the condition of Maine’s bridges indicates one-third (32.9%) of Maine’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. MaineDOT reports 72% of Maine’s bridges are in fair to poor condition; the current 2015-2016-2017 MaineDOT Work Plan contains a $119 million per year shortfall in the Highway and Bridges program including $70 million in unmet bridge needs per year-YET-the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study continues…
3/13/2015: MaineDOT engineers have made a change to the FINAL EIS to modify the “hard-look at Route 9”. Gretchen sued the MaineDOT for data to back up their original September 2010 epiphany and got none; however this is now “hard-look version 3.0”. Interesting how something is so easily changed when it is to their advantage. Scary that they didn’t even know that the design was an issue until a non-engineer questioned it…
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Click here to view February 2015 Newsletter.
Click here to view February 2015 Supplemental Newsletter.
3/11/2015: The Federal Highway Trust Fund will once again run out of money this fall, yet the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study continues…
3/10/2015: LD 47 was officially buried today…
3/4/2015: WLBZ news report “Maine DOT says it needs extra $70M a year for bridges.” Note that: “The MDOT report says there are more than 770 bridges in Maine that are more than 70 years old and need major repair or replacement.” And, the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study keeps moving on… Should we spend $61 million on a deficient 2B-2 alternative or spend that $61 million rebuilding bridges that are in need of dire repair?
3/3/2015: BDN article: Governor LePage is looking for an additional $100 million per year to rebuild Maine’s failing bridges, YET, theI-395/Route 9 Transportation Study Moves on…
3/1/2015: The ROD may be issued as soon as Monday signaling the end of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. Will the ROD come out immediately or will they make us wait as they have throughout this whole study now in the 15th year?
2/27/2015: Just posted on the BDN website:
2/26/2015: Gretchen was on WZON The Pulse AM 620 this morning discussing several 2B-2 issues. Link to the podcast will be posted as soon as available.
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2/24/2015: Not sure what I witnessed Tuesday night at the Eddington Board of Selectman meeting. On the agenda: a resolve to reiterate the town’s opposition to 2B-2, as resolved last on September 24th 2013 with a vote of 4 to 1 in opposition to 2B-2; however, on this date, after crossing out a few words, they voted 3 to 2 in support of 2B-2. Selectman Lyford (State Representative for District 129 including many in opposition to 2B-2) was not asked to recuse himself as many contend he should have. We have no representation when politicians have their own agenda…
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5/29/2015: Excerpt from Official Minutes of the Board of Selectman meeting of February 24th.
2/23/2015: I submitted a second Letter to the Bangor Daily News Editor this morning, they posted my letter submitted on the 20th (below). The good thing about having website access is nothing has to be wasted:
2/23/2015: Bangor Daily News Letter to the Editor:
2/24/2015: I added my own comment:
Click here to view FOAA documents:
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2/24/2015: Two more comments.
2/23/2015: WABI TV reports on a $26 million shortfall in federal transportation funds for a 5 year period ending in 2013. And once again, one must ask: what is this strange fixation that the MaineDOT has with 2B-2? “…Maine needs an additional $119 million a year just to maintain the transportation system’s basic needs.” This just makes me want to scream!
2/22/2015: Link is up for Gretchen’s recent radio interview on WZON The Pulse.
2/19/2015: The MaineDOT has just issued a report on the condition of our state’s bridges. Remember that the MaineDOT currently has an approximate $119 million per year shortfall in the department’s highway and bridge program, including a $70 million unmet bridge need per year as reported in the 2015-2016-2017 Work Plan. Chart #4 indicates that 28 % of bridges are rated as good and 72% are rated as fair to poor. Chart# 5 indicates that the percentage of structurally deficient bridges in Maine are increasing when national and New England percentages are decreasing. YET, as bad as this news is, the I-395/Route 9 Transportation Study moves on…
Click here to view complete document.
2/19/2015: You just can’t make this stuff up! The MaineDOT is coming to Brewer seeking our input; they haven’t listened to me since I first discovered their dirty little 2B-2 secret on December 15, 2011. All of our efforts over the past 3+ years have been marginalized and yet to put a check in the box, they are coming to town. I can think of a question or two, if I try real hard. So, if you happen to have a question that you don’t really expect an answer for, or just want to see how your government works, please put March 16th on your calendar. I don’t expect to ever get an honest answer about 2B-2 from this group, but I will keep trying, maybe one of them will have a weak moment and actually blurt out the truth – I can still dream. Larry Adams
2/19/2015: Am I the only one that finds anything wrong with an official government document that has such an obviously intentional “misrepresentation of fact”? Look at the FEIS-stated-COST. People should be outraged!! Larry Adams
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Click here to view complete document.
2/18/2015: Polls or petitions?
Click here to verify each signature, pages 303 to 331.
2/18/2015: Gretchen was interviewed on the radio this morning – WZON AM 620 The Pulse – on the continued saga of 2B-2. WZON’s podcast is currently down, when available, Gretchen’s interview will be posted for all. A very good interview, with all the facts from someone who is not impacted by 2B-2; in fact Gretchen makes it perfectly clear that she would probably benefit by the connector, however her thoughts are with the future of Eddington and the downside that 2B-2 presents.
Bangor Daily News article 2/17/2015: “Committee rejects bill that would halt I-395, Route 9 connector”. Whether LD 47 is passed or not; it does not negate the fact that 2B-2 does not meet the Purpose and Needs for this project. All that information is posted on this website, for all to see. 2B-2 does not satisfy system linkage near term needs for the entire 20 year design life of the project. It’s really that simple – just read for yourself…
2/16/2015: Larry sent another email to the JSC on Transportation with this Newsletter:
Click here to view entire newsletter.
2/14/15: Bill sent another email to the JSC on Transportation.
2/12/15: Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement for LD 47. If 2B-2 is legislatively removed, the DOT “may be required” to pay back $2,205,277.00 in federal funds spent on this study. Spend $61 million on an alternative that does not meet Purpose and Needs to save $2.2 million? Would you run your household like that? And if my memory is correct, this may have been financed as 80/20, if so the state would have kicked in $551,319.25 for a total cost of $2,756,596.25 for the study to date…
02/08/15: Larry sent a follow-up email to the Committee on transportation.
Click here to view complete 3 page email attachment.
02/04/15: Gretchen sent a follow-up email to the Committee on Transportation.
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02/03/15: Some of us traveled to Augusta today to present testimony on LD 47 Resolve, Directing the Department of Transportation To Remove One of the Proposed Routes from Consideration for the Interstate 395 and Route 9 Connector. Here’s Larry’s testimony, Gretchen’s testimony and Bill Butterfield’s submitted written testimony .
01/28/15: At 7:55pm on a Friday night (Jan 23, 2015), after 4 months of silence, the MDOT emailed some select people to let them know the FEIS was available here for download.
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Click here to follow the progress of this bill.
Click here to read the Bangor Daily News article.
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PUBLIC HEARING Scheduled for February 3rd, 2015 @ 2:00 p.m.
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Another Resolve (the third) from the City of Brewer was issued on January 13th 2015.
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WCSH 6/Portland News report on January 22, 2015 titled:
“Highway proposal to connect I-395 and Route 9 revisited” can be viewed here.
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