In a new twist over the future of a bridge in Machias, state officials have come up with yet another plan for replacing the Route 1 dike over the Middle River.
The Maine Department of Transportation now wants to build another temporary span where the road crosses the river, which flows into the Machias River immediately downstream from the dike. The agency came up with a temporary fix last year while negotiating with federal officials over the environmental impact of the project.
The latest plan underscores divisions between the state, federal regulators and local residents and officials over how to replace the decaying Civil War-era dike, which blocks fish from traveling upstream but has protected riverfront property owners from floodings for more than a century. It also highlights the complexity and compounding costs of large coastal infrastructure projects such as this, particularly in the face of rising sea levels and worsening storms related to climate change.
On Tuesday, Maine DOT said it has come up with another temporary design that should last 15 to 20 years — much longer than the temporary fix it implemented last year. The latest intermediate measure aims to give the state more time to pursue a permanent solution without triggering the federal requirement of first drafting an environmental impact statement, which state officials said would take “several years” to complete.
“We understand residents and Route 1 travelers in Machias and Marshfield are frustrated with how long this project is taking, and we share that frustration,” Bruce Van Note, the head of Maine DOT, said Tuesday. “This project has raised unanticipated regulatory issues, resulting in much more permitting process and time than expected.”
He added, “The temporary bridge currently in place was not intended to last for many years.”
The sticking point with replacing the deteriorating dike is fish passage. Federal rules aimed at improving migratory routes for fish, including protected Atlantic salmon, would require a new bridge to allow natural tidal flow upstream, which advocates say would bring more wildlife into the area and help mitigate floods along Route 1.
Landowners along the lower portion of Middle River, however, want to maintain the current dike’s restriction on water flow. A raised bridge that allows water level and flow to fluctuate freely underneath would flood their properties, forcing unwanted changes and potentially lowering the value of their land.
Two years ago, Maine DOT announced plans to build a bridge across the mouth of Middle River, to restore historic upstream fish passage, but it scrapped those plans last year to appease riverfront property owners in Machias and Marshfield.
Sarah Dedmon, interim operations manager for the town of Machias, said local officials do not see the new plan as a setback.
She said no one is eager to have more construction on Route 1, but that having a longer temporary structure will enable Machias and other towns to take a holistic, regional approach in working with the state on a long-term solution that addresses both traffic and climate concerns.
The flooding potential to waterfront property owners on the Middle River is an issue, she said, but the continuing threats of local flooding along the adjacent Machias River also is an issue. She said the town got flooded out of its town office on lower Court Street last winter, when storms caused significant damage along the entire Maine coast, and 10 months later still is operating from a temporary office on Stackpole Road.
And it is not just a Machias or Marshfield issue, she added. The towns of East Machias and Machiasport also are affected by flooding in upper Machias Bay, while residents throughout coastal Washington County frequently travel on Route 1 to or through Machias.
“It buys us time to figure things out,” Dedmon said of MDOT’s latest plan.
Last fall, state officials came up with a previous plan to install a temporary modular steel span across the top of the dike after inspectors found evidence of soil erosion between the concrete slab beneath the road and the timber forming the top of a gated box that restricts flow underneath.
That temporary modular span will be removed before the new, longer-term temporary bridge is constructed, Maine DOT officials said. The new structure — estimated to cost about $2 million — will be paid for exclusively with state money and built in a way that will not require federal permits or review.