WELLS, Maine — Public Works Director Carol Murray told the roomful of residents at Wells Town Hall that a man once shared with her his experience of paddling underneath the Drakes Island Road Bridge in his kayak.
The man said the condition of the bridge scared him.
“You need to come and look at it,” he said.
That was one of the first calls Murray took after she became public works director about five years ago. She told the residents she had looked up a bridge inspection report that the Maine Department of Transportation had written. She held up the report and told residents that she had determined that the bridge, which provides the sole access to the homes and beloved beach on Drakes Island, was “not in good shape.”
Murray opened with these comments during a May 23 forum, in which members of the public got glimpses of two potential designs for a brand new bridge on Drakes Island Road. During a two-hour discussion, residents shared their concerns about safety and other issues, including how they will be able to get on and off the island while the bridge is under construction.
The current 14-foot bridge is 84 years old and, as it says on the town’s website, is “nearing the end of its useful life.” The town launched the bridge project last spring and held its first public meeting about it last summer. The May 23 forum was the second of two the committee had planned for public discussion.
Construction is expected to begin in the winter of 2025 or early 2026, according to Liam Kalloch, of CMA Engineering, the firm hired for the project.
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Two options for new Drakes Island Road Bridge
Kalloch presented two designs for the new bridge: one with a precast, concrete, three-sided frame, and another with precast concrete deck beams. Considering construction costs, Kalloch said his firm and the town are leaning toward the three-sided frame.
“They tend to be quicker and easier to install,” he said.
Given concerns about sea-level rise, Kalloch said the new bridge would need to be at least 4 feet higher than the current one. During a phone interview after the forum, Murray added that 4 feet is the amount recommended by the Maine Department of Transportation for this region of the coast.
The committee is working alongside the Drakes Island community, the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Wells Reserve, and the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, which has property abutting the bridge.
How wide will the new bridge be?
The potential width of the new bridge generated much discussion during the forum.
Kalloch presented two options: a bridge with two 10-foot traveling lanes and a three-foot shoulder, and one also with two 10-foot lanes but with a four-foot shoulder. Curb to curb, the bridge is currently 22 feet and would increase to 26 feet or 28 feet, respectively, under the two options.
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One resident said the current bridge is not safe for pedestrians, adding that it is not a place where you can step off onto grass but instead is one that is bordered by steel railings. She advocated making 12-foot driving lanes and four-foot shoulders.
“It’s not safe on that bridge,” she said. “It’s not fair. Drakes Island is a beautiful place. Everyone should be able to go down there safely.”
Another resident questioned the wisdom of widening the bridge, only to have it lead into a narrower road to the island, where there are houses and more cars.
“There should be more uniformity,” he said.
At one point, Carol Morris, the forum’s facilitator, polled the room, asking residents to raise their hands if they supported a wider bridge for pedestrian access and safety. Most in the room did so.
Only two residents raised their hands when Morris asked who wanted the new bridge to remain the same width as the current one. Earlier, one of them had said he rarely sees more than one vehicle at a time traveling across the bridge.
“Why would we want to make the bridge wider?” he asked. “We’re a little community. We’re not downtown Wiscasset. We’re a dead-end-road community.”
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Construction will not impact tourism season
Kalloch said construction of the new bridge would take place in the early fall or winter, a time that is required by the state for permitting and is also when the population is lower, given the lack of tourists.
Kalloch presented two options for considering how people will be able to make it on and off the island during construction of the bridge.
One option is a phased approach, in which contractors would keep one traveling lane on the bridge open for motorists and pedestrians while they closed and worked on the other, and vice versa.
The second option, Kalloch said, would be to build a nearby, temporary bypass with either one lane or two.
“That would allow a contractor to fully demolish the existing bridge and fully build the new bridge all in one go,” he said.
Kalloch said CMA is leaning more toward the phased option, given the impact the bypass could have on the marsh in the area.
Kalloch also said CMA and the town are still evaluating each option for their varied costs and scheduled impacts.
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What’s next?
The town and CMA will continue to work toward the final design for the bridge, keeping in mind for consideration the feedback and concerns offered by residents at the forum. A preliminary design is expected to be complete later this year, with the final design on tap for completion sometime in 2024 or early 2025, according to Kalloch.
While the May 23 forum is the final one the town plans to hold, members of the public will be able to attend and speak at future meetings as the committee works on the project, according to Murray.
Residents also may send questions or comments to [email protected].