By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

Perhaps, says state Sen. John Nutting, it’s time to build a Route 4 bypass taking traffic from Turner directly to the Maine Turnpike in Auburn.

For one thing, he says, getting some of the traffic off the open access highway should improve safety. Route 4 is quickly becoming known as the region’s death row. Even state police troopers who patrol the road can’t keep track of the number of fatalities that have occurred on it between Auburn and Livermore.

Truckers in particular could benefit from a bypass, says Nutting. They’d be able to avoid the gauntlet of traffic lights that control vehicle movement through Auburn. The time savings alone – never mind what might be saved in fuel – would be welcomed, Nutting, a Democrat from Leeds, suggests.

And getting through truck-traffic off Route 4 would allow commuters and shoppers to more easily access the commercial businesses lining Auburn’s Center Street.

“I’m going to talk to the commissioner about this this week,” Nutting said Tuesday, referring to Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner David Cole.

Cole’s spokesman, Herb Thomson, said any such project would take time to bring to fruition.

He noted that a Gorham bypass intended to ease congestion between that town and Portland is only now coming close to completion. And that’s after 30 years of talking, planning, designing, permitting and building.

Thomson also said the bypass, which would be considered a new capacity highway, would require federal funding, and as a result, federal approvals.

“It would be a multi-jurisdictional project,” he said.

Worth considering

But Chip Morrison says it’s an idea worth considering.

Morrison is president of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce. Once upon a time, though, he was Auburn’s city manager. And he remembers that when he was elected in 1978, the city’s master plan called for a similar bypass that followed a corridor more or less in line with Hotel Road.

“Clearly, something that would relieve a stressed artery would be good,” Morrison said Tuesday. But we need to know who would benefit” from it.

“When you reroute traffic, sometimes you have unintended consequences,” he added.

Don Craig, a transportation specialist with the regional planning agency the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, says Nutting’s idea is one that’s already been well-discussed in certain circles.

“I think that’s something that’s been thought of for a long time,” Craig said. “The problem is there isn’t enough money” to make a bypass a reality.

“It would be highly expensive to build,” Craig said. “Tens and tens of millions.”

Morrison said billions would be more like it.

The cost of land acquisitions alone could put it out of reach, he hinted.

That’s not to mention added construction costs that could result from crossing wetlands or other problem spots, Craig pointed out.

Turnpike extension?

If the Maine Turnpike Authority was brought into the discussions, Craig said that might bring about a financing solution, providing the authority could recoup its investment through tolls in a timely manner.

Making the bypass a turnpike spur, however, would also mean access would be limited, making it of little value to local commuters.

Still – and pie in the sky or not – Craig spoke wistfully of the plan.

“It would be wonderful to be able to do that,” he said.

Traffic on Route 4 at the Auburn-Turner line has grown by more than 4,000 vehicles per day in the 11 years from 1992 to 2003.

Craig said the 2003 count was 18,000 daily; in 1992, 13,900 cars and trucks were using the highway.

Craig and Morrison wondered a bit about one aspect of Nutting’s proposal, however: The location.

Nutting said he envisions the bypass starting at the Maine Turnpike where Washington Street/Route 4 now intersect it. It would end near where a Dunkin’ Donuts is planned opposite the Androscoggin Savings Bank about a quarter mile north of the Auburn-Turner line.

Craig and Morrison each noted that many of the fatal accidents that Nutting hopes to put a stop to happen north of that point. They wonder if a bypass would have a tangible effect on traffic safety because of that.

Auburn Mayor Normand Guay, however, says that even getting truck traffic alone out of his city could be a benefit. Depending on the type and location of a bypass, it could also be a boom to the city’s shopping center area.

“In concept I think it’s a great idea,” Guay said.

He said he hopes to speak with Nutting about it and wants more information about potential routes.

“We have a lot of land in ag resource out there that isn’t developed,” Guay pointed out, but “I’d still want to know how many people could be displaced.”

Nutting says he’d like to hear from people who use Route 4 about their thoughts. His State House office number is 287-1515, or people can send him an e-mail at SenJohn.Nutting@legislature.maine.gov.

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