Camden readies for Route 1 north reconstruction and Route 1 south sidewalk
CAMDEN — Two Maine Department of Transportation projects for Route 1 in Camden are poised for progress. The estimated $7-8 million rebuild of Route 1 north to the Lincolnville town line along a 1.54-mile stretch of highway is expected to begin in 2017, and the proposed sidewalk from the intersection of Camden Street and Route 1 (near Subway and the former McDucks) to the vicinity of Camden Accommodations, just over the Rockport town line, is anticipated as a 2018 project.
On May 4, from 6 to 8 p.m., DOT representatives will be in Camden at the town office Washington Street Conference Room to talk further about its plans to widen and make safety improvements to Route 1 north.
The DOT’s Work Plan outlines the project as beginning .56 miles north of the Sagamore Farm Road, and continuing for 1.54 miles to the Lincolnville town line.
The DOT’s project includes a seven-foot raise of the Spring Brook Hill bridge, where vehicle crashes are frequent, especially during the winter.
The project also includes reconfiguring slopes and roadbed, clearing trees so sun can dry the highway in the winter, and creating an 11-foot travel lane with four-feet-wide paved shoulders on either side.
Preliminary engineering design drawings are finished and available for review at the Camden Town Office.
The DOT’s next steps are to assign valuations to properties that abut the highway, identify rights-of-ways, titles, and determine how to negotiate with landowners about either outright compensation for highway construction, or temporary construction compensation.
On Jan. 4, Lincolnville and Camden selectmen convened for a special meeting at the Lincolnville Town Office to talk about the proposed design of the highway improvements. At that meeting,the selectmen gathered around a table, reviewing 30 years of local plans for Route 1, including those that have materialize and those that remain on scrolls of engineering printouts that were tacked up on the walls in the meeting room.
By the meeting’s end, selectmen from both towns agreed to have the Camden-Rockport Pathways Committee issue a joint recommendation with the Lincolnville Route 1 Advisory Committee regarding bicycle-pedestrian lane widths and other design standards they would like considered.
The Camden Select Board heard the Pathways Committee recommendation two weeks ago. Committee Chairman Geoff Scott delivered the request that the DOT provide for a five-foot shoulder along both sides of the 22-foot-wide travel lanes.
Scott said the committee also would like to see engineering considerations for a future separate off-street multi-use pathway.
The highway passes through Camden and Lincolnville residential and mixed-use zones, dotted with homes, a few farms, many lodging establishments, and parts of the Camden Hills State Park.
Sidewalk South
The stretch of sidewalk that is to begin just before the intersection of Camden Street, John Street and Route 1 and continue on the east side of the highway to Maritime Farms and beyond remains in the design phase.
Last week, town officials from both Camden and Rockport, committee volunteers and an architect from the DOT met by the side of the road to talk about design concepts.
As it stands now, the sidewalk is to be separated from the edge of the road by a three-foot-wide narrow esplanade.
There is is also preliminary discussions about making the corner intersection of Camden Street and Route 1 more perpendicular. Currently, Camden Street intersects at an angle to Route 1, making it difficult to for vehicles to turn right onto the side street.
Camden received a $133,600 federal grant in 2013 to be used for the design and construction of a sidewalk is to from Quarry Hill Road, in Camden, and continue along Route 1 to Leonard's Clothing Store at 56 Commercial St. (Route 1). The project is include crossing improvements to the entrance of the Hannaford Shopping Plaza. The stretch of sidewalk will comprise 970 linear feet in Camden and 980 linear feet in Rockport.
Travelers riding the Concord Coach Line buses often walk alongside the busy highway from downtown Camden, or Rockport, to Maritime Farms in Rockport, where the bus stops.
Entities endorsing the grant application included Hannaford, Maine Media Workshops, Camden Hospital for Animals, Pen Bay Health Care, and Concord Coach Lines.
The grant requires a local match of 20 percent, totaling $33,407, which had been approved by Camden's and Rockport's select boards.
The Maine DOT oversees the Quality Community Program supporting the federal Transportation Enhancement funding. Typical types of projects funded under this program include sidewalks, crossing improvements, off-road connections and downtown improvements. The goal of this program is to improve transportation, improve safety, and promote economic development.
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Camden, Lincolnville selectmen to talk about Route 1 rebuild plan
Diverging diamonds and other redesign ideas for Camden-Rockport Route 1 corridor
Camden, Rockport reap Route 1 sidewalk grant
Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 706-6657.
