Bus service in Lewiston-Auburn is limited, leaving residents with fewer options.

Most economic development gurus would say growing an economy must include transportation infrastructure to accommodate the efficient movement of people and goods.

Having nearly 500 municipalities creates significant challenges for Maine in creating a comprehensive approach to economic growth. Each region, town and city has its own perceived needs and priorities; this cripples the ability of one sensible policy to be developed in Augusta.

In recognizing this challenge for states, the federal government has developed policy to differentiate planning for transportation in rural areas from the diverse work in urban areas, because of the ability of those regions to support multiple modes of transportation from bicyclists to cars and buses.

For Portland and Lewiston-Auburn, the federal government has created a model for these regions to convene, on a regular basis, to develop transportation plans and review means to allocate funds to implement them. Those regional groups are called metropolitan planning organizations, or MPOs, and their purpose is exploring strategies to improve all modes of transportation.

If the urban areas in Maine have similiar, viable transportation options for the movement of people and goods, shouldn’t those areas have similar approaches to take advantage of those options to grow their economy?

Nothing could be further from the truth.

On the bicycle and pedestrian front, communities around Portland are discussing how to take major roads into the community, like Congress Street, and make them more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly. In some cases, this involves reducing the width of travel lanes and adding designated bike lanes or improving intersections for pedestrians.

Beyond that, discussions include how to best handle snow removal to ensure safe movement of pedestrians along sidewalks. And Portland recently began moving forward on a bicycle parking ordinance to provide for secure bike parking locations as part of new developments.

For Lewiston-Auburn, the movement is for more room for more cars. Discussions in Auburn hint at long-term interest in expanding Minot Avenue to accommodate five lanes; Lewiston may want the same on Sabattus Street.

Will these expanded roads provide safe and frequent crossing points for pedestrians? Do we prioritize safe bike lanes on our major commuter routes to make that option viable? How many bike racks are there in downtown Lewiston-Auburn? How many of us would feel safe as a pedestrian or bicyclist moving among the various big-box stores in the mall area?

With gas likely to stay expensive, many regions are looking for means to expand current services and provide for new development to occur, if population density demnds additional transit options.

In the Portland region, where buses already run seven days a week and in the evenings, municipal planners have met regularly to review zoning to ensure it provides for developments that support use of bus service. This concept, called Transit Oriented Development, is attracting millions of dollars of investment in Portland and Saco because of the proximity to public transportation.

On the other end of the spectrum, our local bus service in Lewiston-Auburn runs only during business hours and only on weekdays, leaving those wishing to use public transit – who don’t live downtown or don’t work a 9-5 – stuck with fewer options. Municipal planners seldom meet to better match economic growth with our transportation system, and certainly not in the formal way as has been created in the Portland region.

To have two regions of Maine, separated by less than 30 miles geographically, look at transportation infrastructure and how its supports growth so differently is baffling.

Add to that disparity the critical importance of connecting transportation to sustainable economic growth, and we should not only be concerned with our current trajectory, but calling aggressively for a change in direction.

Jonathan LaBonte, of New Auburn, is a columnist for the Sun Journal. E-mail: [email protected].