Plans to connect downtown L-A with the Maine Turnpike have been considered since the early 1990s, but the idea – in the clarity of hindsight – is more than a half-century too late.

When the turnpike from Portland to Augusta opened in 1955, the high-speed roadway was built on the outskirts of the Twin Cities’ thriving downtowns. Interchanges were made out in Danville and the quiet end of Lisbon Street, far from the mills, the businesses, the money and the people.

Planning and politics made this happen. Political machinations from L-A’s delegation at the time helped curve the highway away from Brunswick, while planners thought the Twin Cities would naturally “urbanize” toward the turnpike and justify its inconvenient access points.

Yet access remains a hassle. Yesterday’s strategy is today’s obstacle, and the highway’s distance from downtown has likely aided the slow evacuation of business and industry from L-A’s heart. Hearts are fed by arteries, after all. Not ventricles or capillaries.

This is why officials have strived for years to build a turnpike exit to feed downtown L-A. On Tuesday, a meeting of the city councils in Auburn and Lewiston heard from planners who said the new exit is close to fruition, with public hearings anticipated next month.

It’s a project L-A desperately needs. Transportation around the Twin Cities is an omnipresent concern, and the announcement of Wal-Mart as the anchor tenant around Exit 80 in Lewiston threatens to further hinder downtown’s ability to attract investors, by providing competition for development.

To level the playing field, L-A should build infrastructure to bring travelers into its downtown. All the potential in the world won’t fill the mills, or return vibrancy to Lisbon Street, if people cannot easily get into, and out of, the area.

Unfortunately, none of the “exit strategies” is ideal for L-A’s needs. The proposed interchange, or interchanges, are eyed for the turnpike’s intersections with Riverside Drive in Auburn or River Road in Lewiston, both of which still offer considerable distances for travel into downtown.

The scenarios also include construction of a southerly bridge connecting Lincoln Street in Lewiston to Riverside Drive, a laudable idea for transportation planning but a frightening prospect for taxpayers. A report by the turnpike authority says the new bridge carries a “high project cost estimate.” Yikes.

Most jarring, however, is that this project is needed at all. If the turnpike crossed to L-A’s northwest – as was reportedly considered – the highway would have bisected the major arteries flowing into downtown, like Center Street and Minot Avenue in Auburn, and Main Street in Lewiston.

These areas, coincidentally, have seen heavy commercial development since the turnpike was built, rejecting the vision of the highway planners. It appears someone knew, as the rest of L-A should realize, the highway shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

A new exit for downtown is a chance to fix an old mistake.