Committee nixes study of east-west highway
The Legislature's Transportation Committee unanimously recommended on Tuesday a bill repealing the requirement that the Department of Transportation complete a feasibility study for a proposed east-west highway from Calais to Coburn Gore.
In supporting LD 985, sponsored by Sen. Edward Mazurek, D-Rockland, the committee signaled to the full Legislature that last year's bill authorizing the Maine Department of Transportation to spend $300,000 on a feasibility study for the proposed east-west highway should be repealed.
The committee also voted unanimously against two bills calling for study groups to analyze further development of the private $2.1 billion highway proposed by Cianbro Corp. CEO Peter Vigue, the Bangor Daily News reported. Vigue has said the highway would boost the state's economy and provide an economic stimulus to rural communities that have been hit hard by job losses in recent years.
Vigue's proposal has won support from the Somerset County Economic Development Corp. and the Greater Franklin Economic Development Corp., as well as opposition from several state environmental groups, including Maine Audubon, which last month said the proposed highway's environmental costs outweigh "unproven economic benefits."
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