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Welcome to the website of R.O.A.D. - - - - - > Route One Alternative Decisions We are citizens of Wiscasset, neighboring towns, Maine and the U.S. who seek to Improve the Current Route 1 ("ICR") as the only reasonable solution to the seasonal traffic congestion on Route 1 in Wiscasset, Maine. All of the MaineDOT proposed By-pass solutions are too expensive in terms of construction costs and future lost property tax revenue. They destroy the homes and business of too many people, and are too environmentally damaging. FOR ONLINE LOOK AT TRAFFIC IN WISCASSET CORRIDOR CLICK ON WEBCAMS/RADAR (This site was begun on 12 December 2007. Please send materials (documents, maps, newspaper articles, letters, photos, etc.) for posting to Morrison or to R.O.A.D. at P.O. Box 390, Newcastle, 04553 Thank you.) NEXT MEETINGS OF R.O.A.D., and (RELATED MEETINGS) (No R.O.A.D. meetings are currently scheduled.)
NEW ITEMS ON THIS WEBSITE.... 11 January 2012 Letter to the Editor of the Lincoln County News by Donna Barnako, re: Red's Eats. See "Links to Articles" 12 December 2011. MDOT holds Route 1 solutions Workshop with Wiscasset and Edgecomb Select boards. See "Links to Articles" 10 November 2011. There will be a "workshop" at Chewonki for the Selectboards of Wiscasset and Edgecomb on Monday, November 14 from 6-8:00 p.m. See PUBLIC NOTICE ADVERTISEMENT and COMING EVENTS on this website. 27 September 2011. MaineDOT meeting at Wiscasset, 9:00 a.m. to consider effectiveness of the Vehicle Control Officers last summer. 2 and August 1011. Several newspaper articles about MaineDOT cancellation of Bypass. See "Links to Articles" 1 August 2011. MaineDOT Commissioner David Bernhardt announces abandonment of Wiscasset Bypass alternatives. See "Latest News"
R.O.A.D. was formed in December, 2007 and held its first meeting on 11 December. The SPECIFIC route one goals of R.O.A.D.:
1. Normal traffic flow . Significant efforts should be made to enhance the flow of traffic on the existing route in downtown Wiscasset. When considering the $100 million By-Pass project, the Maine Dept. of Transportation did not propose ANY improvements in downtown Wiscasset with any similar investment. Not $1 million. Not $5 million. Not $10 million. Nothing. (In 2010, this goal was called "Improve the Current Route (ICR), and its benefits/costs ratios are clearly superior to those of the proposed by-passes.) 2. "Double Gas Bypass." The proposed $100 million N8C By-Pass is Maine's equivalent of the Alaskan "Bridge to Nowhere." Maine and the U.S. should not waste so much money to produce so much damage for so little benefit. For approximately 330 days a year, every vehicle that takes the proposed N8C by-pass will travel almost twice the distance and use twice the gas and produce twice the pollution as a vehicle taking the current route.
3. Route 1/Route 27 Exchange in Edgecomb. Improvement of the accident-prone interchange in Edgecomb should proceed. These improvements are now called "Phase I" of the Wiscasset MDOT project. 4. Route 1/Route 27 Exchange in Wiscasset. The announced MDOT plan to create a 'left-turn lane" at this exchange should proceed.
other goals of R.O.A.D.:
1. To create and maintain on the www.wiscasset-road.org website a repository of ideas and information about the Wiscasset corridor traffic problem.
2. To provide a long-term forum for reasonable resolution of the problem of summer traffic congestion.
FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS There are fundamental truths involved in the Wiscasset Route 1 corridor. 1. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. 2. In the long term, there will be only one Wiscasset bridge over the Sheepscot River. If a second bridge is built for a bypass, the Davey Bridge will be doomed. 3. From the Kennebec River in Woolwich to the St. Croix river in Calais, Route 1 is a two-lane road with several "slow zones" through cities and towns including Brunswick, Bath, Wiscasset and Thomaston. 4. The Wiscasset traffic flow problem is primarily a seasonal, summer problem occurring a few hours a day, a few days a week, a few months a year.
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