Wiscasset residents turned out in force to the selectmen’s meeting Aug. 4 to weigh in on Maine Department of Transportation’s forthcoming decision on the Federal Street weight limit.
Safety, infrastructure deterioration, traffic congestion, and a drop in property value were a few of the concerns expressed by residents who spoke out in opposition to lifting the weight limit.
There were no representatives on hand from the DOT to hear their concerns, however, with the department indicating they wanted to wait to hold a public hearing until after the commissioner has released his decision.
Wiscasset Town Manager Marian Anderson said she was working to ensure a public hearing planned for early September to discuss the stoplight at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 27 would also encompass a discussion of the Federal Street weight limit.
Efforts to get a firm date from the DOT on when the commissioner expected to release his decision were unsuccessful, Anderson said.
The large turnout of residents at the selectmen’s meeting was due to the organizing efforts of Federal Street resident Ed Kavanagh who canvassed the neighborhood encouraging people to attend.
Selectmen encouraged residents who spoke out at the meeting to organize a grassroots effort to make their concerns known to the DOT. Kavanagh compiled a list of names and contacts before residents dispersed, so the grassroots effort could begin.
Selectmen and town officials also said they would do their part to ensure their objection to lifting the weight limit was known. According to Anderson, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, a state agency, has already written a letter in opposition to lifting the weight limit.
Anderson said she is working on contacting other state agencies to gain their support for the weight limit. Residents asked that department heads in Wiscasset, such as the police chief, head of the public works department, and head of the water district, also be contacted and asked to write position papers on the weight limit.
Residents also asked selectmen to write a position paper on the weight limit before the DOT releases their decision.
The Federal Street weight limit, which limits trucks traveling on the road to 6,000lbs, was instituted by local ordinance in 1973 after the town completed road work on Federal Street. In 2002, the then-commissioner of DOT supported the weight limit. Federal Street, or Route 218, is a state road and under the DOT’s jurisdiction.
Heavy truck traffic has been diverted from Federal Street through Sheepscot Road to connect to Route 1. Sheepscot Village residents, in Newcastle, have been petitioning the DOT to remove the weight restriction on Federal Street.
DOT spokesperson Scott Rollins previously said the policy regarding weight limits on state roads has changed since 2002 and the department is no longer in favor of it.
According to a Wiscasset resident, Sheepscot Road will still experience heavy truck traffic, regardless of the weight limit, due to the trucks’ delivery routes.
Some residents in attendance questioned if the groundswell from Newcastle against the weight limit was initiated by one person who moved to Sheepscot Village from out-of-state.
“Is it going to take all of Federal Street and half of the town to fight one person?” a resident asked.
