BRUNSWICK -- The Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) "is the Department of Defense's primary source for assisting communities that are adversely impacted by Defense program changes," according to its website. It's hard for us here in the Midcoast to remember that "adversely impacted" can be the result of base expansion as well as closure. But when it comes to adverse traffic and transportation effects, OEA has typically thought of communities in which a facility and its mission grow. So it's practically unheard of the OEA would fund a Transportation Feasibility Study in a community like Brunswick-Topsham, in which the transportation questions arise from the redevelopment of a military installation.
Nevertheless, nearly 100 area residents gathered last week to hear a progress report on an OEA-funded study being conducted under the auspices of the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) that will address a number of long-standing problems that have been given new urgency as the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority continues its work to implement the Reuse Master Plans for both the main Naval Air Station - Brunswick property and the Topsham Annex, on Route 201. Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB) of Bedford, New Hampshire is leading the study team. They have identified five "strategies" - or areas of concern - that will be further developed as a result of both their own study and the input from the general public.