Sept. 16 – Traffic declines near the site where the Maine Turnpike Authority plans to build the Gorham Connector, prompting calls for the agency to abandon the increasingly controversial freeway project that would ease traffic congestion west of Portland.
The authority also released a 2023 revenue study last week that estimates the total cost of the connector will be at least $331 million. HNTB project engineers said at a community meeting in March that the cost would be “a little over $200 million,” a 5-year-old estimate that turnpike officials have cited repeatedly and that has not been updated.
At the same meeting, held in a packed gymnasium in Gorham, HNTB Vice President Paul Godfrey showed graphs showing “traffic volumes are at or above pre-pandemic levels.”
But the most recent annual average daily traffic counts — conducted at 28 locations along Routes 114, 22 and 25 — are down an average of 13% from pre-pandemic levels, according to data from the Maine Department of Transportation. The analysis compared counts conducted in 2022 and 2019 — or earlier at two locations that didn’t conduct counts in 2019.
In an area hard hit by commuter congestion, where routes 114 and 22 overlap in Gorham, near O’Donal’s Nursery, the annual average number of vehicles has fallen from 21,650 vehicles in 2016, to 21,200 vehicles in 2019, to 21,070 vehicles in 2022. That’s a decline of 2.7% over six years.
In one area along Route 25, from downtown Westbrook to downtown Gorham, the annual average number of vehicles dropped from 18,010 in 2016, to 19,340 vehicles in 2019, to 14,530 vehicles in 2022. That’s a 19% decrease from 2016 to 2022.
“The traffic congestion has been grossly exaggerated,” said Stanis Moody-Roberts, whose property on County Road in Scarborough is on the route of the proposed toll road.
Moody-Roberts attributed the decline to more people working from home, including himself, and a growing population of people 65 and older, among other possible factors. He also said he understands the inconvenience of being stuck in traffic.
But he and others believe there are better, cheaper ways to address commuter congestion. Possible solutions include roundabouts and other improvements to existing roads that have been postponed while the authority focused on building the connector, he said.
Moody-Roberts is a member of Mainers for Smarter Transportation, a grassroots organization that this month published a 38-page report recommending alternative solutions to local rush-hour congestion that have been proposed by other municipal, regional and state agencies.
“There are so many other things you can do,” he said. “And in any process like this, you have to try the smaller options first.”
CONSIDERATION OF TRAFFIC NUMBERS
Peter Merfeld, the authority’s interim director, said recent traffic counts will be taken into consideration as the agency moves forward with the connector proposal.
However, he said, “We do not believe that traffic has declined to the point where it is necessary” to reduce the proposal for the corridor. Nor do we believe that the decline will continue or be large enough to exceed the traffic counts from 2012. Those counts showed that the corridor is too large.
He pointed to recent and ongoing housing development in Gorham, which is expected to lead to increased traffic.
The updated costs for the connection and traffic counts come as Merfeld and state transportation officials appear before Scarborough City Council on Wednesday to address mounting public scrutiny and criticism of the toll road.
First, turnpike officials are expected to outline the project’s history during a council workshop. Then, council members are expected to vote on a resolution asking the authority to increase public review of the proposal and modify it to meet community expectations.
The resolution is also expected to call on the authority to halt the purchase of land in Scarborough for the connector and have the connector proposal assessed by an independent external agency to ensure it is the best solution.
The authority has spent at least $4.5 million purchasing land needed to build the 5-mile, four-lane tollway that will run from the turnpike’s recently rebuilt Exit 45 in South Portland, through Westbrook and Scarborough, to the Gorham Bypass at Route 114 in Gorham.
GOOD PLACE FOR A GAS STATION
Turnpike officials notified Moody-Roberts in February that they want 20 acres of his property for the interchange project. They may have to move his driveway because they want to build the County Road interchange there.
They assured him that the financial compensation would offset the decrease in value of his property because of the highway, but they also suggested that his land could increase in value because he could build a gas station there.
Anyway, he doesn’t wait to see how things turn out.
“I will fight this to my last cent,” said Moody-Roberts, who runs an international technology sales company. “Because not only does it suck for me, it’s destructive to the environment and local history, and it’s a complete waste of public money.”
One way Moody-Roberts is fighting the connector is by asking for more information than the agency has made public. The agency last week posted the 2023 earnings study and other reports on its website, which it had asked for in public information requests months ago, he said.
The revenue study, conducted by HNTB, estimated the connector would cost $331 million, a 2019 estimate of $217 million adjusted for inflation and other factors. Construction would begin in 2025, with tolls beginning in 2028.
At the March community meeting, HNTB’s Godfrey said no toll information was available. However, the year-old revenue study shows the authority is considering tolls of $1.50 to $2, which would generate $65 million to $172 million in revenue over 30 years. Tolls would increase every 10 years.
Merfeld, the interim director, wrote in a letter accompanying the study that “the data and assumptions presented remain conceptual and are intended to support ongoing evaluations of the project’s financial viability.”
Merfeld added that “an updated traffic and revenue report will be released once more details about the project are determined. Completion is expected to occur prior to the filing of environmental permits” with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Maine Department of Transportation.
Peter Mills, the former director who retired this month, had said the agency would apply for environmental permits later this year.
The agency has since announced that it will delay implementation of the project to gather more public input and increase transparency in the planning process.
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