Our Mission

Mainers for Smarter Transportation is a coalition of individuals and groups that formed to advocate for an alternative to highway expansions in Greater Portland.

Who We Are

We are a volunteer-led, grassroots coalition with support from partner organizations across Maine. Over 11,000 Mainers have signed our petition calling for a halt to planning for the Gorham Divider.

Maybe you see yourself in one of the descriptions below. If so, join us as a volunteer!

Supporting Organizations

We’re looking for more organizations to join our expanding coalition. Businesses, non-profits, citizens groups, neighborhood organizations – all are welcome to join us in this campaign!

Read and sign the Join Our Coalition letter if your organization or business supports smarter transportation alternatives to highway expansion!

Why we’re doing this

Here’s some testimonials from the dozens of volunteers, over 1500 signatories to our petition, and over 3000 followers of the Save Smiling Hill Farm Facebook group. We all come to this movement with different perspectives, but we share a common goal.

Asphalt is a farm’s last crop. To survive, a farm requires land, and when that land is lost and unable to be replaced, the farm dies. We can not afford to lose this land to asphalt.

Warren Knight, Co-Owner, Smiling Hill Farm, Westbrook

As a parent of teenagers, I am often asked many hard questions about what I am doing to prepare for our changing climate. I could not in good faith stand by today, not only for those of us concerned with today’s environment, but for our children who will inherit what we leave behind. 

Tuck O’Brien, Trout Unlimited Sebago Chapter

I’ve lived here my whole life, my family for generations. My parents were dairy farmers here, and raised us to revere nature and the lands we farmed. As my dad used to say, “they aren’t making any more land.” It’s my fervent hope we can revisit other solutions that conserve the unspoiled land that we still have. 

Mary Emerson, Gorham Resident

I live in Gorham with my husband and our ten month old daughter. We love to live in a place with woods, fields, farms, and safe streets. But the proposed turnpike expansion puts that all at risk. If we build a highway here just like the one at the Maine Mall, our community will look just like…the highway at the Maine Mall.

Abby King, Gorham Resident

I moved back to my home state to escape the highway-fueled sprawl of Washington DC, which made neighborhoods louder, dirtier, and more dangerous for families. Highways divide communities, and we don’t need any more of that in Maine.

Myles Smith, Volunteer Facilitator, Portland

It’s private property, and the owners of Smiling Hill Farm should be able to use it how they see fit.

Barbara Corliss, Gorham Resident

Initially, the highway expansion would make commuting into the Portland area quicker from outlying areas such as Standish and Buxton. This would greatly add to development in these areas, eating up more farm and forest lands… Instead we need to encourage concentrated residential growth in areas closer in to the Portland employee market.

Mike D’Arcangelo, Gorham Resident

Are we really going to spend $250+ million so we can get to work 5 minutes quicker?

Sam Purington, Gorham Resident

We do not need to take private property – Route 114 is a 50-foot wide corridor that isn’t being fully utilized.

Jessica Holbrook, Scarborough Resident, Former Town Councilor

The proposed highway would cut through my land, taking 8 acres through eminent domain, cutting through my driveway and backyard. It would destroy a large amount of beautiful undeveloped land and create a scar on our landscape, it would fragment precious wildlife habitat, it would hurt Red Brook, it would spur suburban sprawl, and could cause the loss of a local landmark and beloved family business.

Stanis Roberts, Scarborough Resident

I have lived less than a quarter mile from Smiling Hill Farm for 63 years. Don’t mess with the beauty of the area that belongs to the wildlife we enjoy each and every day! No one has died going slow in traffic on Route 22 since I’ve been alive.

Ruth Libby, Scarborough Resident

This project is overkill for what’s needed, which is just to improve a couple of intersections. It does not make the current roads safer for cyclists or pedestrians. If in 30 years I ask my son if he’s pleased with the road my generation built for his generation, I suspect the answer will be no.

Timothy Lambert, Scarborough Resident

After speaking with 200+ patients we found that the commuter’s desire is to NOT have ANY part of the new development from the MTA be on Smiling Hill Farm. Not one person thought traffic is an issue in the morning or evening. These statistics the MTA is working with from 2016/2017 need to be reevaluated.

Dr. Warren Lain, New England Chiropractic, Westbrook Resident

If you build it, they will come. As a fellow farmer, I cannot sit by and watch my greatest fear happen to yet another farm. No farms, no food. Isn’t that what everyone pretends to preach?

Emily McGonagle, Westbrook Resident

No land should ever be taken by more roadways! People just need to settle down and take their time getting home. Two or three minutes saved because of new road is not needed!

Colleen Peterson, Westbrook Resident

In a time where we are actively reckoning with the social, financial, and moral costs of climate change – this is an egregiously misguided allocation of public capital and resources.

Alex Redfield, South Portland Resident

Why destroy existing businesses that have been there for decades, generations, just so people who built homes recently can get home faster? Put in bike trails and public transportation instead.

Suzan Elichaa, South Portland Resident

If we wanted to move to New York, New Jersey, or Massachusetts areas, we would do it. But we don’t. Let’s put Maine first.

Colleen Coyne, Westbrook Resident