SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Maine — The Maine Department of Transportation says it will be making repairs to Seawall Road in Southwest Harbor this spring.
A portion of the road has been shut down since March due to storm damage.
Many people in Southwest Harbor were happy to hear that the MaineDOT will be repairing Seawall Road, a fix that they've been waiting for months for.
"It’s like I almost want to do the jig," Marilyn Lowell, Southwest Harbor town manager, said.
This spring, the MaineDOT will spend around $1 million to reconstruct and improve about 950 feet of the road.
"What we are doing is putting in some features that will help mitigate future storm events, flood waters, so that we get a little bit further into the future," Paul Merrill, MaineDOT director of communications, said.
The MaineDOT won't start fixing the road until the spring because it will likely sustain more damage throughout the winter.
Some business owners on Seawall Road that have been impacted by the closure say the repairs are coming too late.
"So as far as the road being fixed in the spring, I think it's wonderful, I think that's great, but it's also like taking a whole year off," Charlotte Gill, a local business owner, said.
Gill owns the Seawall Motel and Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound, both located on Seawall Road.
Gill has rallied the community around reopening the road to help residents and businesses there.
She created a petition to "Save Seawall" that garnered more than 1,000 signatures.
"It's not just a throughway, it's a way of life," Gill said.
Gill said that her restaurant's business is down 72 percent from last year, so she wants the road to be fixed as soon as possible.
"If they did a fix now, if there was a temporary fix that was happening and it was happening here within the next month or so, that would help," Gill said. ‘
A temporary fix is what Southwest Harbor is trying to achieve.
The town is working with local contractors to reopen the road before the MaineDOT reconstructs it in the spring.
"I just am hopeful that it will help a lot of those businesses salvage what's left of the summer," Lowell said.
The town is waiting for approval from the MaineDOT before it can move forward with any temporary repairs. Town leaders are holding an emergency meeting Wednesday night for the select board to approve the MaineDOT’s plan.