Maine DOT Spars With Regional Transportation Planners

Nok-Noi Ricker reports on a transportation planning controversy rising from conflict between regional and state authorities:

The group that plans improvements to roads and transportation infrastructure in Greater Bangor voted Friday to add the controversial Interstate 395-Route 9 connector to its list of projects after being told by state officials that funding for all projects in the region would be delayed if the plan wasn’t approved.

Members of the group, the Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System's (BACTS) policy committee, "said they did not like being forced to approve a new three-year plan that includes the Interstate 395-Route 9 connector or risk losing $57 million in road project funding this year for the Bangor urbanized region, which includes 10 neighboring communities."

The decision overturns the earlier approval by the BACTS committee of a list of projects for 2016-2019. Although the committee has traditionally approved al the projects desired by the Maine Department of Transportation, in this case, several BACTS member communities oppose the connector project.

The article includes more details about the political back and forth between the BACTS committee and the Maine DOT, as well as the opposition to the connector project.