The state is no longer considering building a bypass to alleviate traffic in Wiscasset, according to a Dept. of Transportation (DOT) press release.
According to the Aug. 1 press release, DOT Commissioner David Bernhardt “has made a decision to terminate the [Wiscasset Route 1 Corridor] study…”
The decision “ends plans to build a bypass around the coastal community,” according to the press release.
“The cost of building the bypass far exceeds any potential benefits to motorists and the communities,” Bernhardt said in the press release. “At a time when we have difficulty finding the financial resources to maintain our existing infrastructure, I cannot justify the expense of building a bypass around Wiscasset.”
The most recent cost estimates for the project “are close to $100 million,” according to the press release from DOT Public Information Officer Mark Latti.
DOT officials expected funding for the project to “become available” but “flat federal transportation funding” and the end of the controversial practice of “earmarking” means “the potential for funding this project has dwindled,” according to the press release.
The bypass, a topic of debate for decades, appeared as close to reality as ever in late spring 2010, when the Army Corps of Engineers approved bypass route N8c, also known as the “long bridge” option.
The discovery of a Bald Eagle’s nest on Davis Island, in the path of route N8c, derailed construction before it began.
Bernhardt downplayed the impact of the nest in an Aug. 1 conference call with reporters. “It’s about funding,” he said.
Bernhardt stressed the priority of maintenance over new construction.
“We are struggling to maintain the roads and bridges we currently have in safe and serviceable condition,” Bernhardt said in the press release.
“We recognize that summer traffic continues to be a major problem in Wiscasset and Edgecomb,” Bernhardt said in the press release. The department, in lieu of a bypass, “will continue to look for new solutions and technologies to lessen the area traffic impacts at a price the state can afford.”
Pressed for specifics during the conference call, Bernhardt said “non-bypass infrastructure improvements… could be a slew of things.”
Bernhardt listed improvements to intersections, such as the Edgecomb intersection of Rt. 1 and Rt. 27, as a possibility.
“We’re also going to work aggressively with the communities to implement solutions such as real-time traffic information and traffic officers to help alleviate some of the backup,” Bernhardt said in the press release.
“We will be looking at any alternatives that we feel from a cost-benefit standpoint is worth looking at,” he said in the conference call.
The impact of the traffic officers presently at work on Main Street in Wiscasset remains largely unquantified. A DOT website, meanwhile, provides frequently updated information for travelers at www.maine.gov/mdot/wtis/map/index.php.
During the conference call, Bernhardt said the “level of benefits” a bypass might provide – “basically to help with six to eight weeks of congestion” – make it “impossible to justify an expenditure of this magnitude.”
Bernhardt acknowledged that the department’s decision is “a major disappointment to the people who have worked to make a Wiscasset bypass a reality” and thanked those people – mostly volunteers – for their service.
The cost of the Wiscasset Route 1 Corridor Study over the last “10 or so” years is about $2.5 million, Bernhardt said.
Bernhardt cited the cost of further study, the lack of funding and the uncertainty facing property owners in the path of various bypass routes as motivation for making the decision now.
District 53 Rep. Les Fossel (R-Alna) represents Wiscasset in the Maine House of Representatives.
“For a long time, Maine has been promising to spend money it doesn’t have,” Fossel said Aug. 2. Now, the state is “facing reality.”
Fossel said he’ll choose “safe roads that don’t destroy your vehicle” over spending millions to avoid “10-15 minute delays in Wiscasset” anyway.
Like many year-round residents, Fossel often utilizes the existing bypass – a network of secondary roads he calls the “rabbit path.”
Fossel encouraged the continued use of traffic officers and the consideration of automatic signals for pedestrians as potential mitigating measures. He called on the state to re-route visitors to points northeast, such as Camden, through Augusta via I-295 and back to the coast via Rt. 17.
Fossel received an early copy of the DOT press release and forwarded it to subscribers of his e-newsletter.
“I was expecting there would be a firestorm,” Fossel said. Instead, he received “no negative responses” and a handful of mild responses to the tune of “Well, it’s about time they did this, because it’s not going anywhere.”
District 51 Rep. Jon McKane (R-Newcastle) represents Edgecomb, on the other side of the Sheepscot River. Edgecomb and Wiscasset officials held sharply different opinions on route N8c.
“I was never 100 percent sold on that particular $100 million bypass,” McKane said.
“I certainly understand the problem,” McKane, an electrical contractor, said. “I’ve gotten stuck many times in Wiscasset traffic.”
“I think we should continue to work on some other no-build solutions,” McKane said. A different approach from this year’s traffic officers – waiting for pedestrians to cluster before stopping traffic – has helped, he said.
McKane also suggested researching a “pedestrian tunnel,” which might be able to mitigate the problem at “a fraction of the cost” of a bypass.
McKane, like Bernhardt, recognized the decades of labor left in the project’s wake. “I feel sorry for the folks” who invested an “incredible amount of energy and effort” in bypass planning efforts, he said.
Edgecomb Selectwoman Jessica Chubbuck said she’s “relieved in a lot of ways” and “skeptical” in others.
“I’m relieved people’s homes and lives and businesses won’t be affected by” bypass construction but “I hope it’s really the end of it,” Chubbuck said.
Chubbuck said the majority of Edgecomb residents, even residents who used to want a bypass, “didn’t want a bypass anymore” by the time Bernhardt made his announcement.
The $100 million price tag was perceived by many as “crazy” in a time “when most people are having a hard time filling up their gas tanks,” Chubbuck said.
Wiscasset Town Manager Laurie Smith offered a markedly different perspective.
“I feel like there is business that has not been resolved,” she said.
While Smith understands the department’s rationale and sympathizes with the relief of property owners no longer living in the shadow of a potential bypass, she’s “still waiting to hear from the state about how they’re going to help Wiscasset.”
Smith said she’s heard mixed reactions from residents and town officials. Some “people are happy that there’s a resolution,” while others still “believe a bypass should go through,” she said.
Smith said there are no meetings scheduled to discuss the issue with the DOT.
