I have been following the discussion about the proposed roundabout and felt it was time to comment publicly. To me, Frank Helman's proposal seems far superior to the one currently being considered. It addresses more of the existing safety issues and seems to be robust enough to handle future increases in traffic from further expansion of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. It expands the size of the Common and places event parking within the loop rather than across the street -- two huge benefits! Furthermore, the expanded parking area could be used to set up an attractive and publicly visible ice skating rink in winter (think Brunswick) without detriment to the Common lawn.

Several previous letters about this issue and, indeed, Mr. Helman's proposal, have been submitted by Boothbay Harbor residents. I'm sure that's because these changes will affect Boothbay Harbor residents as much as it will residents of Boothbay. The same can be said of Southport residents. It's troubling that this decision, which so obviously affects all of us, would be made solely by residents of Boothbay via their upcoming referendum. Of course, it's only fair that if we want our opinion to be considered we should share in the expense of the project but isn't that how we do other important things that affect all three communities, e.g., our public school system? This project is currently set up as a business deal among MDOT, the town of Boothbay, and a private developer. I suspect that a fourth or fifth party would be welcome to the table and respectfully request that the Boothbay Harbor Selectmen consider this issue promptly.

We have already had one DOT-related "failure to do it right the first time" experience with the paving project this year. This Route 27/Commons project has many more long-term consequences with no chance of a do-over. We can't afford not to get it right the first time.