Federal dollars are no longer in play for Maine Department of Transportation’s plans for Wiscasset’s downtown, according to an email a federal staff member has sent a member of the Wiscasset Historic Preservation Commission.

However, the traffic and safety improvements project will proceed and, if anything, on a less restrictive timeline than had the state continued to pursue the federal funding, Maine Department of Transportation engineer Gerry Audibert said in a phone interview Saturday. Previously roughly estimated to cost as much as $5 million, the project may shift to something closer to $4 million, Audibert said. He was the project’s first manager but it recently reached the transition stage in which Ernie Martin is managing. Audibert remains on the team and took the Wiscasset Newspaper’s questions as the newspaper continued trying to gather further information at the federal, state and local levels Saturday.

Audibert said he holds out some hope for construction to get under way in late 2017, but that 2018 is more likely.

Wiscasset Historic Preservation Commission member Jib Fowles has openly and adamantly opposed MDOT’s concepts in connection with the project, particularly removing on-street parking on Main Street between Middle and Water streets. And in a phone interview Saturday morning, Fowles acknowledged he had no direct information beyond the email from environmental engineer Cassandra Chase of the Federal Highway Administration’s Maine Division. However, when he got her email Friday evening, he took it as very good news in terms of it not boding well for the multi-million-dollar project.

“I was just delighted,” Fowles said. “Eighty percent of funding was federal, and it will depend on what the state’s going to do, but if 80 percent is gone, I think that’s very good news.”

Audibert said a project would typically be about 80 percent federally funded, and 20 percent state, but the Wiscasset one is unique in a number of ways and includes elements that may not have been going to qualify for federal dollars. For example, new parking proposed on Railroad Avenue would not have qualified, he said. So it was always unclear how much the state would have gotten from the federal government for the project, Audibert said.

A majority of Wiscasset voters in June supported the option that included moving parking off Main Street, possibly to a Water Street parking lot that would replace the Haggett’s Garage building. The option was one of three the state proposed, including a “do nothing” option.

Audibert said Saturday, the main takeaway from this latest development is that the project is still on, and that, just as before, the state will continue to work with the town and hear concerns and ideas regarding the project. “We’ll have an open ear.”

He noted the selectmen are planning to start a local advisory committee, so the state will be working with that when it’s formed, he said.

Audibert anticipated that the state will be contacting the town again during the week of Sept. 12.

Selectmen’s Chairman Judy Colby hadn’t been aware the state was no longer seeking federal funding. “I think the only thing we can do is stay calm and sit back and wait and see what the state is going to do,” Colby said in a phone interview Saturday. She would hope the state does not seek the town’s help with funding the project, she added.

Audibert said given the town’s financial challenge with a potential tax increase that’s been in the news, he would be unsure if the town is going to be able to fund items it has already been told would need local funding, such as restrooms if they’re going to be part of the project.

Chase’s email to Fowles reads in part: “I just learned (this week) that MaineDOT will be proceeding with State funds only for the Wiscasset project.  Since no federal money is being proposed and no federal approval is required (and therefore, no federal nexus), the Federal Highway Administration will not be involved in the project moving forward.  Compliance with Section 106 is not required when there is no federal nexus,” the email states.

In August, Chase and other officials held an initial meeting with consulting parties, including the local preservation commission, for the federal review.

In the email to Fowles, Chase adds that she encourages him to express his concerns about the project’s impact on historic properties to MDOT’s project manager.

Chase’s email responds to one Fowles sent her earlier Friday seeking any new word on the federal review.