Dear Editor:

I am not clear on what is required of the informed, intelligent voter to have to have other than that which has been put forth to date.

People have written (and from other towns than Wiscasset) a plethora of reasons to vote yes on April 17. The likes of:

--lawsuit is of no cost to taxpayers,

--courts should decide on DOT circumventing Wiscasset laws,

--impact on small business (removing parking) equates to (by a national study) $25,000./yr. (per shop owner),

--DOT plan will not reduce congestion by more than less than a minute and traffic will increase 5 percent a year.

Others have said:

--the loss of parking will eventually cause taxes to rise and reduce property valuations,

--off-street parking (as designed) is more than 300 feet away and (by DOT), is outside the distance considered to be convenient for shoppers.

My opinion is that DOT is still trying to crawl out from under the blanket of failure to find a bypass solution and this (they think) will wash the slate clean.

Last, but by no means least, unless you vote yes, you are going against the advice of a stalwart member of this town by the name of Roy Farmer. Anyone connected to Wiscasset in any way knows well the good this man has done for this town and this state.

It's simple — Vote yes on Tuesday, April 17.

Jim Collins
Wiscasset