A 30-mph speed limit sign near the intersection of Main Street and School Street in Damariscotta. The Maine Department of Transportation will extend the 30-mph zone on Main Street to the intersection with Back Meadow Road within the next few weeks. (Evan Houk photo)
The Maine Department of Transportation will extend the 30-mph speed limit on Main Street in Damariscotta from the intersection with School Street to the intersection with Back Meadow Road.
The speed limit currently rises to 40 mph near the intersection of School Street. Now, the speed limit will be 30 mph to Back Meadow Road, near the 619 Main St. branch of Damariscotta Bank and Trust.
The speed limit will rise to 40 mph between Back Meadow Road and Belvedere Road, then to 45 mph from Belvedere Road to Route 1.
A Jan. 28 letter from David Allen, Midcoast region traffic engineer for the DOT, to Damariscotta Town Manager Matt Lutkus, says the DOT will post signs with the new speed limits “within the next few weeks.”
The signs for the area after Belvedere Road currently say 40 mph, which is wrong, according to the DOT. The DOT will remove the incorrect sign.
The decision follows a DOT review spurred by an April 2019 request from the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen to review the stretch of Main Street near Inn Along the Way and Route 1.
John Gallagher, a representative of Inn Along the Way Inc., had approached the selectmen with a request to lower the speed limit in that area to 30 mph.
Gallagher came to the selectmen after the DOT told Inn Along the Way there needs to be a greater line of sight from Inn Along the Way’s driveway to Main Street. A boulder at the end of the driveway inhibits the line of sight for motorists traveling to and from Inn Along the Way.
The selectmen voted to send a letter to DOT requesting a speed review.
Rather than change the speed limit in the area near Route 1 that was the subject of the request, the DOT decided to extend the 30-mph speed limit from the area of School Street to Back Meadow Road.
