A deadly crash blocked the one street out of a Maine island city for hours
A deadly motorbike crash Sunday highlighted a hazard that’s been dealing with drivers in Stonington and Deer Isle this summer season.
Native officers within the two cities have expressed concern for years in regards to the vulnerability of the low-lying causeway that connects Little Deer Isle to the primary island and the suspension bridge that arcs over Eggemoggin Attain, connecting Little Deer Isle to the mainland.
Local weather change might render the causeway unusable from storm harm or sea stage rise, whereas a catastrophic failure on the bridge — both pure or human-caused — might have penalties that final months and even years.
However this summer season, it has been roads on the primary island which have posed extra instant issues. The deadly accident on Sundown Street and its subsequent closure by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Workplace led to some motorists being caught for a number of hours.
Usually, two roads join Stonington to Deer Isle village, however considered one of them — Route 15 — has been closed to by way of visitors since Might whereas the state works to assemble a brand new bridge the place Holt Pond flows into the ocean. With each Sundown Street and Route 15 being closed on Sunday, it wasn’t doable to drive from Stonington to Deer Isle, the one strategy to drive to the mainland.
Residents of Stonington and Deer Isle are used to occasional detours due to the restricted community of roads that connects the causeway to downtown Stonington and some smaller islands that lie off Route 15, Evelyn Duncan, a Stonington Choose Board member, stated.
“You at all times fear, as a result of if an ambulance or hearth truck can’t get by way of, it turns into a little bit extra important,” Duncan stated. “However now we have clearly survived.”
There have been different current closures and obstacles to cope with. Every week earlier than Sunday’s deadly motorbike accident, a police standoff briefly closed the roads simply east of Deer Isle’s village, forcing motorists to make use of different routes. Over the weekend, robust winds from Hurricane Lee pushed some timber down into roadways, partially or totally blocking the roads till the timber might be eliminated.
“It’s a vulnerability we ought to be occupied with,” Jim Fisher, Deer Isle’s city supervisor, stated in regards to the island’s street community. However he stated the causeway stays an even bigger concern as a result of its closure would have an effect on folks in each cities. Simultaneous closures on the island that forestall journey from one city to the opposite have “been very uncommon,” he stated.
One other sudden subject has been the size of time the Holt Pond undertaking has taken. The Maine Division of Transportation had hoped to finish it by the tip of August, however that aim has been pushed again as a result of supplies have been delayed.
“The contractor’s provider for the precast concrete beams was unable to fabricate and ship the supplies to ensure that the contractor to put in them in early August,” Paul Merrill, a division spokesperson, stated. The supplies are there now, and the bridge is predicted to be reopened the second week of October.
Residents are wanting ahead to having the undertaking carried out, Duncan stated. When that occurs, they might have a break for a couple of months earlier than the state begins work on one other native undertaking: changing a unique bridge that connects the village of Oceanville to the remainder of Stonington.
“We hope they’ll wait at the very least by way of the winter,” she stated.
