Greater Portland residents voiced their opposition to the proposed Gorham Connector highway as the Maine Turnpike Authority opened the project up to public comment on Monday.
The toll road would go from South Portland to Gorham, connecting Exit 45 to the Gorham Bypass on Route 114. Turnpike authorities say the 4.8-mile, four-lane highway would significantly reduce traffic congestion.
Much of the outcry centers on Smiling Hill Farm, a popular dairy farm in Westbrook owned and operated by the Knight family since 1720. The proposed highway runs directly through the farm and would require the Turnpike Authority to purchase 45 acres from the 550-acre farm for the construction. Beyond the acreage paved over by the road, Smiling Hill says the Gorham Connector would prevent easy access to another 70 acres of their land.
“Taking land away from a farm is like taking tables out of a restaurant, taking classrooms out of a school, [or] removing desks from an office," said Warren Knight, co-owner of Smiling Hill, at a press conference staged Monday afternoon at the farm. "It has an immediate negative effect on the overall business. To survive, a farm requires land. And when that land is lost and unable to be replaced, the farm dies.”
MTA hosted their first community input meeting on the project at the Gorham Municipal Center on Monday evening. Speaking to a packed gymnasium filled with Southern Mainers, MTA officials gave a presentation walking residents through their decision-making process. Officials stated routes 114 and 22 are operating at commuter capacity, which has pushed traffic onto nearby neighborhood streets. On their website, MTA identifies these roads as McLellan and Day roads in Gorham, Running Hill Road in South Portland and Beech Ridge Road in Scarborough.
The presentation at one point highlighted how the traffic congestion is exacerbating vehicle emissions in the area.
“Greenhouse gas emissions are worse in vehicles [that are] sitting in traffic, doing 0-5 mph," said Paul Godfrey, the vice president of HNTB, an infrastructure consultant group helping MTA on the project. "If we continue that trend, we’re gonna continue to be challenged around greenhouse gases. For us, [not doing anything] was not the answer.”
After the presentation, MTA opened the floor to questions and public statements for the rest of the meeting. With some voicing support for the project, residents also raised their own issues with the project, ranging from whether building another highway would truly solve traffic congestion to the project's environmental impact.
"We have seen the effects of climate change happen much faster than anticipated, and we have to find other ways of getting around," said a woman who identified herself as Pam from West Gorham. "I would gladly take a bus; I would gladly take a train. But I don’t want to see more roads built."
The Smiling Hill press conference held earlier in the day also featured Tuck O’Brien, president of the Sebago chapter of Trout Unlimited, an environmental nonprofit dedicated to the conservation of fishing areas. O'Brien claimed the project may lower the water quality of the nearby Red Brook watershed and threaten the local population of brook trout.
”Red Brook itself is home to one of the last remaining self-sustaining populations of brook trout in the metro Portland area," said O'Brien. "Maine has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect and improve the Red Brook watershed. And now we want to build a highway on it. Let that sink in."
Godfrey said the Turnpike Authority has met with the Knight family on multiple occasions to discuss possible solutions. These options included creating a tunnel under the road to allow for off-road access to the land, as well as giving the farm an equivalent amount of woodland property in a land swap.
"The Authority is looking to work with the folks at Smiling Hill Farm to hopefully find an answer that works for everyone," said Godfrey.
MTA says the Gorham Connector still needs to be fully designed. Godfrey says they hope to submit permits for the project later this year, with construction beginning at the earliest by 2025 pending final approval.
Besides producing and selling dairy products, Smiling Hill Farm also hosts its own cross-country skiing course and offers tours of the farm.
