The recently formed Edgecomb Bypass Taskforce Committee is scheduled to meet with MDOT Commissioner David Bernhardt March 22 in Augusta.
According to Selectman Jack Sarmanian, the purpose of the meeting is to determine what actions the agency is planning toward a Wiscasset bypass project, the latest plans for which were shelved in November after the discovery of an eagle’s nest on Davis Island. Town officials have long opposed any alternate route under consideration by the DOT.
“We want them to know that we are well prepared,” said Sarmanian at a March 7 select board meeting. “We will fight this by any and all means.”
According to DOT representative Gerry Audibert, a decision on the bypass is likely to come within a month.
“We’re dealing with two options,” Audibert said March 14. “Either we complete the study or dismiss the project altogether.”
Audibert said the DOT recognizes the plight of the homeowners who have been sitting on “pin cushions” waiting for a decision. The agency is currently undertaking a legal review process in anticipation of a public meeting to address concerns residents may have.
After years of planning, the DOT was set to begin construction on a bypass route identified as N8c, or “long bridge” passage, in the spring of 2011. The eleventh-hour discovery of an eagle’s nest on Davis Island forced officials to scrap the project until a further determination could be made.
A heated December public meeting in Edgecomb, designed to honor the wishes of an initial Taskforce Committee, exposed growing frustrations surrounding the project as residents complained of everything from “endless process” to a lack of transparency from the agency.
Bernhardt, who was sworn in last month by Gov. Paul LePage to replace departing Commissioner David Cole, has put the Wiscasset bypass near the “top” of his priority list, Audibert said.
