Residents of Gray were rightly upset about the accident in which an 18-wheeler passed a stopped, lit up and stop-signed school bus and struck a student emerging from the bus. This was terrifying for all. Students in other buses heard the screams when the bus drivers tried to communicate with each other. Imagine the horror the driver felt trying to warn the student. Thankfully this student will recover, but he and his family must be suffering.

My question is: Why are there so many huge commercial trucks traveling through the center of Gray? We are a relatively small town and not the destination for these trucks, which make our town much more susceptible to accidents.

If you look at turnpike tolls, the toll from Gray to Auburn is very high for a small distance. Commercial vehicles exit in Gray and travel through our main street and up Route 100 to Auburn. This saves them money but makes our town have a much higher commercial traffic rate than it should. This makes the center of our town congested and the roads that exit the town much more busy than they should be. This affects our whole community.

The state of Maine’s turnpike authority could correct this problem quite easily. Make the toll fee from Gray to Auburn more reasonable. Our students and residents are worthy of this change.

Valerie Razsa
Gray