Gov. Paul LePage has lifted his ban of road signs along state roads showing the way to Maine’s national monument.
LePage spokeswoman Julie Rabinowitz said Monday that LePage reversed course on his previously stated ban. The reasons: U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke opted to keep the monument intact ― against LePage’s wishes ― and Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument Superintendent Tim Hudson submitted a second request for signs on March 28.
As first reported by Maine Public, the Maine Department of Transportation “is working with U.S. Department of Interior officials to expedite the production and installation of the KWWNM signs,” Rabinowitz said in an email on Monday.
LePage had refused to allow official signs along Interstate 95 and routes 11, 157 and 159 — all Katahdin region main roads — saying that it would be wasteful to do so if Zinke recommended that President Donald Trump rescind former President Barack Obama’s designation of the monument. The Bangor Daily News learned in August, and Zinke confirmed in December that he wouldn’t recommend significant alterations to the 87,562-acre collection of parcels east of Baxter State Park.
Critics said that LePage’s ban was “mean-spirited” and delaying the inevitable.
The County is pleased to feature content from our sister company, Bangor Daily News. To read the rest of “LePage will allow highway signs for Katahdin monument,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Nick Sambides Jr., please follow this link to the BDN online.
