Testimony of Nancy Smith, CEO of GrowSmart Maine in Neither For Nor Against Andre J. Briere of New Hampshire for Appointment as Executive Director of the Maine Turnpike Authority
April 1, 2025
Senator Nangle, Representative Crafts, and Honorable Members of the Joint Standing Committee on Transportation,
My name is Nancy Smith, I live in Ellsworth, and I am the CEO of GrowSmart Maine. We are a statewide non-partisan non-profit organization helping communities navigate change in alignment with smart growth.
GrowSmart advocates for transportation policy that ties in land use, housing, environmental and economic goals to contribute to a sense of community vitality. In that role, we are part of the leadership for Mainers for Smarter Transportation.
Maine needs the Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA) to be under new leadership and with a refreshed vision of the role that the organization plays in transportation and transit statewide. Andre Briere, with his experience at the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, can lend guidance as to how that vision is shaped.
We’re encouraged that the MTA’s candidate selection process brought them a leader from another state that has already integrated their turnpike authority and Department of Transportation. The future of transportation administration in Maine must prioritize infrastructure solutions that do not undo the good work to address the climate crisis and housing, and without creating the next crisis of access to farmland and open space.
GrowSmart Maine is eager to work with the MTA as communities continue to think about their current and future transportation infrastructure in the face of growing development pressures.