To the Editor:
There is a sign as you enter Wiscasset that proclaims it is “the prettiest village in Maine.’ I call upon the people of Wiscasset to paint out that slogan as it is no longer true, particularly for visitors coming from the south.
The unsupervised growth on Rt. 1 has made the trip through town, well, in a word, ugly. Why does Maine need yet another McDonalds, or, another gas station or bank, for that matter, and, what is that horrid pile of sticks across the street?
The addition of more tourist traps along the route in recent years and the fact that failed businesses have left derelict buildings to crumble and rot away, have made an area where our scenic Maine beauty is lost. So, these additional businesses have made more traffic, which has to turn on and off the highway and, as a result, made the trip through Wiscasset even worse than it was. Even Downeast magazine in a recent issue talks about the famously bad traffic.
Since you folks will not approve a bypass and save all the travelers this strip mall ugliness, at very least would you remove the offending and erroneous “the prettiest village in Maine” slogan? It would be more honest to say “the worst traffic in Maine” or “the place visitors want to avoid.” Perhaps if you want to be totally honest “the ugliest piece of road in Maine.”
As I write there are more bulldozers knocking down more trees. What is next? Give us a break. Some of us would rather see trees.
Jay Zoller, Newcastle
