O'er the Meadows and Through the Woods to New Brunswick and Quebec We Go

A proposed four-lane highway across the north Maine woods has the Sierra Club up in arms for environmental reasons, but also because there's already an existing east-west road, Route 2 (pictured), and an east-west rail line.

A proposed $2 billion, 220-mile, four-lane east-west highway project across Maine is identified by a new report from the Sierra club, "Smart Choices, Less Traffic: 50 Best and Worst Transportation Projects," as a "STOP" https://content.sierraclub.org/beyondoil/content/smart-choices-less-traffic.

The Maine chapter of the Sierra Club also strongly opposes the new route, as there is an existing east-west highway, U.S. Route 2. Route 2 does needs improving, but the state chapter has a "fix it first" approach to highway expenditures. The chapter's guidelines are that while it is important to maintain and repair the transportation infrastructure, "it is equally important to direct more transportation funding to public transit like commuter bus and rail." The state chapter notes Maine has a "severe lack of public transit options."

The Maine Sierra Club chapter says the new highway "would endanger our waterways and air quality, increase noise and light pollution, harm key wilderness recreational areas and diminish the tourism experience in the region."

Cianbro Corp., based in Pittsfield, Maine, is the leader of the highway project. In 2011, Maine allocated $300,000 of taxpayer money toward a study of the project despite widespread opposition. Cianbro says the reason for the highway is to give truckers a faster route to rural areas. The corporation says it is "making a conscious effort" to avoid all conservation areas, tribal lands and communities. Opponents note that a highway bypassing communities would clearly have a deleterious affect on small-town businesses.

The Maine Sierra Club chapter reports Cianbro lobbyists have been traveling the state to get the superhighway built. The chapter has posted a "Stop East-West Cianbro Highway!" petition on its website.

Karen Woodsum, campaign director for Sierra Club of Maine, notes there is already a freight rail line paralleling the proposed highway route, and that rail transport is two-thirds more fuel efficient than trucking.