BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 22, 2021
For decades the town of Thomaston has kicked around the idea of creating a new road for traffic to bypass the stretch of Route 1 that runs through downtown. But now that the town has conducted a feasibility study for the potential road, some residents don’t seem to want it. Results of the study were presented to the public for the first time Thursday night and included a proposed three-mile route that would run east to west around Thomaston’s town center and cost an approximate $11.5 million. More than a dozen residents opposed the project, which they said would be a tax burden and simply a new road for drivers to speed on. Bypasses around downtowns are not uncommon along heavily trafficked Route 1, and in places such as Belfast and Damariscotta, downtowns are thriving despite having through-traffic routed around them.