The Midcoast Bypass Task Force has wrapped up months of meetings on aspects of the proposed Rt. 1 bypass with an innovative solution for a Rt. 218 connector road to a full interchange at Rt. 27.
At its final meeting Dec. 9, the prevailing majority of local representatives on the task force agreed to recommend the new connector road to the newly designed interchange allowing access to both south and northbound travel.
The connector road helps keep traffic out of Wiscasset Village, which has been a major concern for Wiscasset. Gravel trucks driving from Alna could then travel north or south by getting onto the interchange
“I see it as a win for Wiscasset,” said Don Jones, a Wiscasset representative on the task force. “Going into the meeting, that was the only unresolved issue.”
The Bypass Task Force included representatives from Wiscasset, Edgecomb, Woolwich, Alna, Westport Island, Newcastle, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Lincoln County, Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce, Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association, Friends of Coastal Preservation, and the Chewonki Foundation.
Task Force members were helping the state Dept. of Transportation (DOT) interpret the public comments for the bypass study’s draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The public submitted comments from late October to late Dec. 2007 at eight public meetings and via hundreds of letters and emails.
Jones said Wiscasset’s position all along has been for a full interchange on Rt. 27. He and Wiscasset Selectman Bill Curtis voted in favor of the measure while Selectmen Chairman David Nichols, Jr. abstained, explaining he wanted to see a visual depiction of it before voting.
The compromise proposal also dealt with Alna’s concern about an interchange on Rt. 218, also known as the Alna Rd., because of its proximity to the Alna town line making it too conducive to development there, Jones said.
Before Dec. 9, the task force met more than a dozen times this year to interpret the public comments for a final EIS, and agreed to compromise on the final route alignment, which begins by NAPA Auto Parts, crosses over Polly Clark Stream to Clark’s Point then crosses the Sheepscot River north of the railroad bridge, traverses Edgecomb land behind Englebrekt Rd., and intersects with Rt. 1 at the juncture of Rt. 27.
Jones said the bypass decisions on various issues have resulted in two wins, including the interchange and one loss for Wiscasset in the process that meant compromise for both Wiscasset and Edgecomb to reach current outcomes.
The second decision he pointed to as a win concerns avoidance of a long bridge, which Wiscasset people rejected because of its proximity to the historic district.
Wiscasset members regard a desired start of the bypass further south a loss, however. The current design calls for the start in the vicinity of NAPA Auto Parts. “It skirts too close to the western side of the historic village,” Jones said.
The DOT will implement other Wiscasset requests as a result of the task force’s work, including a pilot program for warnings to motorists on I-295 when congestion in downtown Wiscasset would cause severe delays, traffic flow improvements for the Rt. 1/Rt. 27 intersection in Wiscasset, testing a downtown pedestrian crossing officer next summer at peak traffic times, and a bicycle/pedestrian study to develop a plan for improved and safer access in the downtown, according to DOT project spokesperson Carol Morris.
Morris said the DOT has submitted its final, full evaluation of the bypass alternatives with its recommendation on the final route to the Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps will then evaluate the documents and make a final determination of which alternative qualifies as the Least Environmentally Damaging Practicable Alternative and can therefore be permitted and built.
The DOT expects the Corps’ determination of the project by the first half of 2009.
As for the final detailed design of the entire bypass, affected communities and the general public will give input for its development.
The state Dept. of Transportation has to add the latest decisions along with some final tweaking of the bypass in its final (EIS) for submittal to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
Before submission to FHWA, however, the Army of Corps of Engineers has to conduct a review process that could take up to eight months. According to Morris, the process entails a minimum 30-day public comment period and possibly a public hearing during which members of the public can make a recorded statement.
Currently the DOT has put money in the 2009 budget proposal for obtaining rights of way for the bypass project, according to Morris. She said the measure should assist elderly citizens along the route, since some would want to move once the route has been finally determined.
During the meeting, Morris fielded a question about whether the project would qualify for President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed transportation stimulus package. “It certainly won’t qualify for the first round of projects,” she said. “They have to have a full design on the shelf.”
In other words, to qualify for the federal funding for many forms of transit including ferry replacements the projects would have to be “shovel ready” to begin, Morris said.
