The Maine Department of Transportation is planning $12 million in improvements to Route 15 in Deer Isle in 2028.
Town officials in Deer Isle plan to lobby the state to add longstanding issues in the village area to the to-do list.
The project is listed in MDOT’s 3-year work plan as “highway construction/ rehabilitation.” The plan says work will begin 0.03 miles north of Indian Point Road in Stonington and extend north almost 8 miles into Deer Isle.
Deer Isle Town Manager Jim Fisher said local officials have been meeting with MDOT representatives on this and other incoming projects — like the $20 million causeway project — for months. While the transportation agency is still nailing down the details, Fisher said it will involve repairing damaged sections of road, widening shoulders to accommodate pedestrian traffic and fixing sight lines to make intersections safer.
Between the causeway project and Route 15, the state plans to spend more than $30 million on Island roads and infrastructure over the next two to five years, Fisher said.
“We’ve been pretty lucky,” Fisher said. “Twenty-plus million for the causeway, 12 [million] for Route 15. It’s a massive investment.”
Fisher said the upcoming project also presents an opportunity for Deer Isle. MDOT is funding the project, but local municipalities have some input on how the money is spent.
“This is the most money they’re going to spend on Route 15 for the foreseeable future, so we want to have our ducks in a row to get the best deal we can,” Fisher said.
A prime example is the Mill Pond Causeway just outside Deer Isle Village. Fisher suspects the two culverts that connect the pond to Northwest Harbor are separated or cracked. No matter how many times the state patches the potholes that appear, they always fall through.
The small causeway has been a thorn in the side of the select board for years and the town wants it replaced with a small bridge or large culvert that’s wider and safer for cars and pedestrians. Fisher said the upcoming work is the perfect opportunity to have things like the Mill Pond causeway crossed off the list.
The key, he said, is having most of the planning completed when the town makes a request to MDOT. That’s why Fisher applied for a $50,000 grant to fund the development of the town’s village masterplan. The document would include a detailed list of improvements to Deer Isle Village. It would be approved by voters at a town meeting and could be presented to the MDOT before they start work.
But Fisher said the grant is competitive, with lots of other Maine towns all vying for a relatively small pot of money. If the money is awarded to Deer Isle and the masterplan is ready before details are finalized on the Route 15 project, Fisher said it’ll vastly improve the chances of getting village improvement work done with almost no cost to taxpayers.
“We want to be able to say to them, ‘When you get around to fixing it, this is what we want,’” Fisher said.