Towns band together on Route 15, peninsula’s ‘lifeline’

STONINGTON — One way in, one way out. That’s how town and business leaders describe transportation on the Blue Hill Peninsula.

And when that way—state highway Route 15—is in rough shape, it affects commerce, health and quality of life. In response, town officials have joined forces to persuade the state Department of Transportation to devote more money and attention to the road.

DOT officials say they plan to do “light capital paving” on sections of the road next summer.

“This was on our to-do list,” DOT spokesman Ted Talbot said, but town officials believe a deeper commitment to improving the road is needed.

Route 15 leaves U.S. Route 1 in Orland, and winds its way through Penobscot to Blue Hill, then through Brooksville and Sedgewick to the bridge, where it heads south through Deer Isle, ending in Stonington.

Town officials began talking about the road in late winter, near the end of the freeze and thaw cycle that heaved up parts of the pavement and even curled up the edges “like cabbage” in sections, as Kathleen Billings-Pezaris, Stonington town manager described it.

“For a number of winters, it gets bad in certain sections,” she said. “Truly, if we have another winter or two, parts of it won’t survive.”

DOT makes repairs in the worst areas, she said, “But it never gets rebuilt [to a level] where it’s OK for the ambulance,” Billings-Pezaris said. The local ambulance must slow to 5 mph on some stretches, she said, so as not to jostle the patient on board.

Route 15 connects much of the peninsula to the hospital in Blue Hill.

Frost heaves and potholes take their toll on other vehicles, too.

“I know a number of people who blew tires,” Billings-Pezaris said, as well sustaining other damage. “The road needs to be fixed right.”

The 11 peninsula towns that rely on Route 15—Orland, Penobscot, Castine, Brooksville, Surry, Blue Hill, Sedgewick, Brooklin, Deer Isle, Stonington and Isle au Haut—agreed to form a committee to work on the problem. A “Fix 15” community forum was held at the school auditorium in Deer Isle on May 10, Billings-Pevaris said, drawing more than 50 people.

DOT officials also attended, and were receptive to the concerns, Billings-Pezaris said.

One way to land more state money in a tough funding climate is to persuade DOT to reclassify Route 15 as a priority 2 road, rather than its current 4 and 5 level (depending on location).

Jim Schatz, a Blue Hill selectman and former legislator who is serving on the 11-town committee working on that effort, said a higher designation would be a big step toward improving the road.

“I’m an optimist. To me, it’s very possible,” he said.

Making the case for that change, both Schatz and Billings-Pezaris said, are the

groceries, medicine, fuel, hardware and other products and service providers that must pass over Route 15 to the towns, and the 45 million pounds of lobster that leave Stonington each year over the road.

“It’s a single road, in and out,” Schatz said.

“It’s a lifeline,” Billings-Pezaris said.

Another possible approach would be to let the towns apply funds to a state repair effort, or allow towns to do the work on the state’s dime.

About six years ago, the legislature considered a bill that would have allowed such state and local partnership, Schatz said, but the idea did not become law.

Talbot said DOT is working on identifying the bad sections of the road for next summer’s work, and had completed some preliminary engineering for that work. Parts of the road in Deer Isle are on the state’s radar, he said.

The plan calls for repairing 18 feet of pavement, which includes shoulders, Talbot said. The state last did work on Route 15 about ten years ago, he said.

The local group’s bid to change Route 15’s classification is “a separate conversation,” he added.

Billings-Pezaris said Stonington and other towns work hard to keep local roads in good shape, investing in better ditching, tree trimming and larger culverts.

“We’re keeping our roads better than the state,” she said, doubling the town paving budget since 2008.

At a recent celebration marking the 75^th anniversary of the Deer Isle bridge, DOT Commissioner David Bernhardt got the biggest applause on a pledge to keep roads in good repair, the town officials said.

It comes down to available funds, Talbot said. DOT falls short by more than $100 million each year in its plans, he said.