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Poll results

The Maine Turnpike Authority has unveiled a long-awaited plan for linking the highway to the town of Gorham, potentially whisking many commuters and other drivers away from over-used local streets and back roads.

The byways are routinely backed up with traffic. And the problem has gotten worse as suburban communities west of Portland have grown in population and attracted new businesses.

The Gorham Connector, as the proposed turnpike spur is called, would run almost 5 miles between Exit 45 in South Portland and a junction with the Gorham Bypass in Gorham. Both municipalities, as well as Scarborough and Westbrook, have long advocated for the connector.

But some residents and others object to the course the highway may take — especially a stretch that would run through a centuries-old family farm, Smiling Hill, in Westbrook.

The project's impact is more than local, however, with possible implications for all of southern Maine and even for the relationship between Mainers and the Turnpike Authority.

More information about the Gorham Connector can be found here.

Do you support the proposed Gorham Connector, as it's currently planned, linking the town with the Maine Turnpike?
Yes (27%, 283 VOTES)
No (70%, 742 VOTES)
Unsure (4%, 42 VOTES)
Poll Description

The Maine Turnpike Authority has unveiled a long-awaited plan for linking the highway to the town of Gorham, potentially whisking many commuters and other drivers away from over-used local streets and back roads.

The byways are routinely backed up with traffic. And the problem has gotten worse as suburban communities west of Portland have grown in population and attracted new businesses.

The Gorham Connector, as the proposed turnpike spur is called, would run almost 5 miles between Exit 45 in South Portland and a junction with the Gorham Bypass in Gorham. Both municipalities, as well as Scarborough and Westbrook, have long advocated for the connector.

But some residents and others object to the course the highway may take — especially a stretch that would run through a centuries-old family farm, Smiling Hill, in Westbrook.

The project's impact is more than local, however, with possible implications for all of southern Maine and even for the relationship between Mainers and the Turnpike Authority.

More information about the Gorham Connector can be found here.

  • 1067 Votes
  • 6 Comments
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6 Comments

  • April 5, 2024

    The Maine Turnpike Authority's proposed route would take 47.3 acres of Smiling Hill Farm. This is 9.3% of the farm’s land assets. The route would bisect the farm and isolate another 70.2 acres (13.8%) on the other side of the highway. In total 23.1% of the farm’s land assets would be affected. What business model would survive intact that severe a disruption? How would the Maine Turnpike fare if you removed 9.3% (10.1 miles) in the middle of its 109 mile length? Furthermore, “fallow" is an agricultural technique and should not be confused as a synonym for abandoned.

  • April 2, 2024

    Fact check – the Turnpike's own data show that this new road will increase commute lengths and travel times for everyone, because it's going to add more traffic lights and delay on all the new interchanges, and because it will funnel more traffic onto I-295, which is already the region's most crowded roadway. According to their 2012 study, the Turnpike Authority predicted that if the bypass gets built, people will spend 11,151 more hours commuting every single afternoon than they did in 2009 – more than a 30% increase in one-way commute times (see table 7-5 of the 2012 East-West study).

  • Craig Wetmore
    April 1, 2024

    We are robbing Peter to pay Paul. The Sebago Lake traffic will all go through Gorham now, so the people living in Gorham or using Route 114 will suffer, but the people using Route 302 will benefit. Here is an idea: run this connector all the way to the Lake with a couple of exits for the locals instead of dumping them off on Route 114, which has little hope of handling this traffic volume without significant congestion and issues.

  • James Ahearne
    April 1, 2024

    It's time we start designing our infrastructure for a future that is not subservient to the automobile. Given the rural nature of Maine and the sprawling distribution of the population, the car will remain a vital tool in Maine's transportation landscape for years to come. But it should not be THE consideration for regional transportation. If anything, it's time to make the car a secondary consideration, after mass transit, in a multi-modal transportation strategy. The "Connector" is a classic case of the tool designing the solution (hammer:nail::ME-Tpke-Authority:Connector), rather than solution dictating the tools.

  • Ben Sturtevant
    April 1, 2024

    Perhaps the Town could consider light rail / street cars instead. Work w/ DOT, Portland and Westbrook to interconnect to the old rail line on West Commercial Street. Tracks end near Eimskip, which is a drawback. There are no tracks in Gorham, but some run near north part of town right across river through Windham. Having just returned from the Pacific NW, I can tell you that light rail seems to work very well in the other Portland (OR) and could serve as a model for other suburbs in Greater Portland to slow sprawl and congestion.