MACHIAS, Maine — The Maine Department of Transportation said the Machias dike bridge will be closed off after Thanksgiving in both directions so workers can start building a new temporary bridge on top of its current structure.
Official detour routes for drivers have not yet been set.
According to MaineDOT, the bridge is quickly deteriorating, and bridge inspectors observed voids in the bridge's structure and also some soil loss that jeopardizes travel safety.
Although MaineDOT said the new build is only a temporary fix, Machias town manager Bill Kitchen said it may take a while for MaineDOT to move forward with a more permanent repair.
"This is a temporary structure, which I think temporary is going to be measured in years," Kitchen said.
Kitchen said since there is no timeframe for how long the temporary bridge will be in place, he hopes that MaineDOT will build a bridge that doesn’t cut away from shoulder space on the dike that is often used for vendors.
"The question is going to be just how much of the vendor area, the shoulder area, the non-travel lanes—how much of that is going to be affected?" Kitchen said.
He said traffic across the bridge is heavy, often crowded with bikers, pedestrians, ATVs, and even snowmobiles.
"There's an awful lot of modes of transportation going on at any given time, and it was never designed to have the economic activity that it does with all the vendors setting up," Kitchen said.
Kitchen said he thinks people in the community were worried that the bridge would unexpectedly fail at some point.
Mariah Mace, who works at the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) office right over the bridge, said she's happy MaineDOT is taking action.
"I’m kind of glad because it’s been such a hot topic for such a long time, and last year there was a storm and there was a big dip in the road there that they had to repair pretty quickly," Mace said.
WIC provides food vouchers—baby formula—and support for pregnant women and women who have young children. Mace said new detour routes and traffic may make it harder for families she serves.
"I definitely think it will impact families, especially since sometimes appointments are right after people drop their kids off at school," Mace said. "Now they’ll have to take a whole different route to get here like when they’re used to just a straight shot."
Kitchen said regardless, the community will adjust to the detour routes while the temporary bridge is being built. He said he’s more concerned with the actual design of the causeway.
"Not the dike itself, but the causeway," Kitchen said. "As in, what’s exactly on the surface? What are we going to have for a vendor area? What are the improvements to safety that we’re going to have? Is there going to be a landscape buffer? Will we be able to add a second trail crossing so that bikes and pedestrians can stay to one and the ATVS and snowmobiles can go to another?"
Although the bridge was not originally designed to be a landing spot for vendors, Kitchen said the community benefits from the variety the dike offers. He said he hopes MaineDOT will take the dike's many uses into consideration.
Kitchen said he sees the new build as an opportunity to make the causeway safer and to add some new features.
"Perhaps a second passage lane for bicycles and pedestrians and then keep the ATVs and snowmobiles to the separate lane," Kitchen said. "There’s a possibility of a fishing pier, of some landscape buffers, of some safety improvements for the fishing pier... safety improvements for pedestrians and the vendor area."