While reading Edgar Allen Beem’s “Farewell to Route 1, Yarmouth,” it re-illustrated to me what we have become: a nation of lazy whiners. The signs, lights and markings are out there for a reason and they all mean something.

He says there are “a measurable percentage” of cars that end up in the park and ride instead of getting on the new southbound Interstate 295 ramp. C’mon, pay attention: Aren’t we all familiar with the standard red, white and blue interstate signs? They are there, and not until you pass the park and ride entrance. There are directional arrows on the pavement as big as some vehicles if you can’t manage to read signs. As for the Portland Street intersection at Maine Coffee Roasters, Beem claims is “is so wide and the angles so acute” and has motorists holding their breath. C’mon, should it be narrowed? I have been a daily traveler on Route 1 for nearly 40 years; I realize it is not perfect, but “frantic jockeying and daily death-defying near misses”? Are there an abnormally high number of accidents because of “design flaws”?

So the next time you are headed south from Brunswick, Mr. Beem, just seek out the red, white and blue Interstate 295 South signs and when you get to Yarmouth you can chose your favorite exit. Or maybe you can take Route 1 all the way? That’s the black-and-white sign with the 1 in the middle of it. They’re everywhere.

Dave Coughlan
Yarmouth