Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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Staff photo by Joe Phelanfrom the Kennebec Journal
BRACING FOR CUTS
Bull killed in Chelsea field; night hunting suspected
HALLOWELL Shea takes on role as interim manager
Vigil set for crash victim
WEST GARDINER CHARITY IN A SHOE BOX
Hartland man dies battling fire; 'no replacing him'
Brewers to make decision on Rogers
WINTER PRACTICES UNDER WAY
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
Officials to brainstorm on energy
License probe leads to indictment
Fireman collapses at fire, dies later
Waterville, Winslow back school plan revision
SKOWHEGAN Pit stop reopens in spot next door
ADOPTION LAW TO TAKE EFFECT
Brewers must make decision on Rogers
Switching gears for new season
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
Two well-known urban experts disagree on whether it's a good thing or a bad thing that the waterway separates the mostly residential east side from the predominantly commercial west side.
Charles Colgan, a former state economist and head of the University of Southern Maine's Community Planning and Development Program, said having a single municipality control both sides of a river makes for good governance.
"I think it's a huge advantage," Colgan said. "Look at the cities of Lewiston-Auburn, Bangor-Brewer and Waterville-Winslow that have to try to negotiate from two sides of a river. Augusta has an integrated whole on both sides of the river in one city government."
But his USM colleague, Mark Lapping, said a river through a city creates a house divided.
"It's not an ironclad rule, but I think communities that are divided by rivers are really divided and face a kind of isolation," said Lapping, distinguished professor of public policy and management, planning, development and environment at the university's Muskie School of Public Service.
The Kennebec River tends to become both a physical and psychological barrier to people in the city, Lapping said.
"Some people just don't like to cross the river," he said.
The Kennebec River runs 170 miles from its source, Moosehead Lake, Maine's largest body of fresh water, to the ocean near Georgetown and Phippsburg.
The river divides the 55-square-mile city with about two-thirds of the total area to the east of the waterway and one-third to the west, said Assistant City Manager Raphael St. Pierre.
Most of Augusta's traditional business districts grew up on the west side of the Kennebec River, first downtown along Water Street and later spreading out along the formerly elegant residential neighborhood on Western Avenue and State Street.
The east side of the Kennebec developed first around trading posts on the river and then expanded to the area around the former high school and hospital complex near the riverbank. But much of the area remains open for more intense development.
The city's first span across the Kennebec came in 1797, crossing from the area near Fort Western to Water Street. Today, the city has three crossings: the Father Curran Bridge and Memorial Bridge in the downtown area, and the new northern Augusta bridge, Cushnoc Crossing, connecting Interstate 95 with Route 3.
"I think Augusta is extraordinarily lucky to be one city on both sides of the river," Colgan said. "Augusta has the enormous advantage, especially with the third bridge, of having the east side integrated into its economy."
Gary Remal -- 621-5642
gremal@centralmaine.com
Reader comments
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Remal makes it sound like mother nature really goofed when she laid down a river straight through what everyone should have known would someday be a city devided.
An explanation of why the river has become an obstacle in the 21st century would have been more interesting. Successful cities are located at hubs of transportation.
In the beginning Cushoc thrived because water was the principal mode of transportation and a power source. Afterwards rail transport also followed the river's edge for its uniform elevation.
When trucks and cars replaced the water and rail I-95 became the new main artery of Augusta and that is where we are today. Everyone wants to be handy to the highway. Pretty basic stuff.
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I wonder who is paying the "urban experts" to study this vital issue?report abuse
I am astounded this story ever made it past an editor. How on Earth is Augusta supposed to do anything to change the fact that the Kennebec River goes through it ? Put the river in a big pipe ? Split into two cities, East and West Augusta ?
This is a ridiculously academic, Ivory Tower, angels on the head of a pin question which has zero real-life relevance. report abuse
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