LATEST NEWS (primarily about R.O.A.D. actions, and non-press covered other activities)

16 February 2010. R.O.A.D. Submits "Comments"  to Army Corps of Engineers. R.O.A.D. member, Dan Sortwell, also submitted "Comments"

   Among other good points, Dan noted that traffic data needs to be accurate. He wrote,

   "MaineDOT assumed a 1.5% annual increase in traffic volume and used that to project the traffic volume in 2030 from their 2000 model4. However, as shown in the graph below, national traffic volume actually dropped in 2008 and then rose only slightly in 2009. My own impression is that traffic volume through Wiscasset also dropped during 2008-2009, in line with the national trend.

     One of the goals of the Wiscasset Traveler Information System (WTIS), put in place by MaineDOT, was to report on traffic volume for the 2009 summer season5. This report should be out by May, 20106. I would recommend that the LEDPA determination be delayed until MaineDOT changes their traffic volume projections for 2030 (p.14 of the USACE public notice) to reflect actual traffic data from 2009."

2 January 2010. "Public asked to participate in Wiscasset Bypass public process "

   AUGUSTA – The Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has announced it is accepting public comments on the three final choices for a bypass route around Wiscasset’s downtown.

    Comments will be accepted by the USACE through February 19, 2010 and can be emailed to Jay Clement at jay.l.clement@usace.army.mil or mailed to him at:

     U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,  Maine Project Office

     675 Western Avenue, #3   Manchester, Maine 04351.

4 July 2009. Webcams and radar monitors are LIVE at the Wiscasset and Edgecomb ends of the Wiscasset Corridor. Click on Webcams/Radar and then click on the device to be monitored.

13 September 2008.  Steve Cartright of Waldoboro writes LETTER to Kat Fuller, Chief Planner of MDOT re: Bypass and need for comprehensive solution to Route 1 congestion.

The letter begins...

The congestion in Wiscasset is greatly exaggerated. I drive this road frequently and very seldom have to wait very long. If you relocated Red's Eats, a lot of the summer tie-ups would be reduced. It's crazy to let one, ho-hum food stand create major traffic flow problems. The traffic back-up at Wiscasset pales compared to traffic jams on Route 128
around Boston, or even Western Avenue and Route 202 to Manchester, which I know has been an MDOT headache for years. The problem isn't lack of roads, it's our pattern of one-person-per-car commuting and our impatience at even a five-minute delay in our daily drive....

10 June 2008.  By-Pass Task Force sees progress on four "Alternatives" to By-pass

  1.  Install cameras to provide web based traffic information that  will tie in with variable message signs.
    2.  Install changeable message signs at I-295 Brunswick mile marker 25 exit saying there is congestion in Wiscasset so that people can stay on 295 rather than taking the coastal route.  This is expected to be up and running by June 16th.
    3  A message sign installed 500 feet west of Route 27 at Boothbay exit to provide advance warning to motorists heading south that there is congestion and they need to be prepared to stop.  This is supposed to be activated Labor Day.
    4.  They expect to have the cost estimate for an underground pedestrian walkway available by June 30th.

   See full MDOP report of  "Interim Treatments Action Plan"

7 June 2008.  R.O.A.D. Co-Chair, Morrison Bonpasse, sends followup LETTER to MDOT Commissioner, David Cole to urge MDOT to install Web cameras at each end of the Wiscasset Traffic Zone and to install a web-connected permanent traffic counter.

Bonpasse wrote, "It's now the second week of June, and the seasonal increase in traffic in Wiscasset is upon us, but I haven't heard from you about the webcams or the traffic counter."  [See the earlier followup LETTER of 30 April, and the initial DEIS feedback LETTER to Commissioner Cole of 19 December 2007.]

28 January 2008.  R.O.A.D. was advised by D.O.T. Consultant, Carol Morris, that the R.O.A.D. application to join the Task Force was turned down.  However, email communications to the Task Force will now be sent to R.O.A.D. See Carol Morris email

24 January 2008. The Mid-Coast Bypass Task Force met in Edgecomb and discussed the DEIS comments submitted to D.O.T.  Also discussed was the R.O.A.D. application to join the Task Force.  D.O.T. prepared a SUMMARY of the public's comments on the D.E.I.S.

18-19 January 2008.  R.O.A.D. requests to join the Mid-Coast Bypass Task Force in 18 January 2008 EMAIL to Carol Morris, Communications Consultant for the Bypass project.  She responded with an EMAIL  on the same day asking for information about R.O.A.D.  Morrison Bonpasse, for R.O.A.D. responded by EMAIL   on 19 January, and noted that R.O.A.D. has a website and is devoted entirely to the issue of solving the seasonal Wiscasset traffic problem.

21 December 2007.  R.O.A.D. submits DEIS Comments to MDOT.

     In addition to opposing the five MDOT proposed routes, R.O.A.D. made three requests:

        1. for a permanent counter to continuously monitor traffic volume in Wiscasset.

        2. for webcams to be established at either end of the SSZ (Seasonal Slow Zone).

       3. for an evaluation of the costs of building a pedestrian tunnel or bridge in the vicinity of the

            intersection of Route 1 and the railroad.