EDDINGTON, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Maine DOT officials listened to two hours of public comment -- all of it opposed -- to a highway connector route that would go through Eddington and Brewer.
"We don't need the road, we don't want the road, we don't want to have the road," said Eddington resident Bruce Pratt to a round of applause in a packed auditorium at the Eddington School Wednesday night.
After holding open house information sessions in Eddington and Brewer, the public hearings collected feedback for a final study on the highway connector.
The DOT has been studying the highway connector for years, and in 2009, announced a preferred route.
When the DOT changed that route to the Eddington/Brewer route, called route 2B2, they failed to collect public input and notify the towns.
For that, the DOT has apologized.
They are now reviewing the comments from public hearings in Eddington and Brewer, and have six months to respond.
"Anytime you try and build something new, the residents impacted have very legitamate concerns," said Maine DOT Deputy Commissioner Bruce Van Note.
"The good news from our perspective is that the categories of their concerns are very similar to ours," said Van Note.
Among the concerns voiced at the public hearing: environmental impact, traffic flow, road safety, noise pollution, tax payer burden, and lack of public input.
"We're going to make sure to incorporate those [concerns] in any decisions moving forward," said Van Note.
NEWS CENTER