Area residents and business owners had another opportunity Tuesday to weigh in on $4 million to $5 million in Maine Department of Transportation improvements for downtown Wiscasset.

The open house and public hearing at the community center drew a sizable turnout, although less than the number when the project was unveiled in March. About 100 people were on hand at the outset. The number slowly dwindled as the meeting wore on.

A non-binding referendum at the June 14 election gives Wiscasset voters the opportunity to choose between MDOT’s three options. After votes from the non-binding question are tallied, selectmen will make their recommendation to MDOT officials. State traffic engineers prefer and recommend Option 2 but believe either proposal will reduce summer traffic snarls and make the downtown safer for pedestrians.

MDOT Project Engineer Gerry Audibert opened the hearing that began with a brief computer presentation outlining the two proposals. Both Options 1 and 2 include adding two traffic and pedestrian signals downtown and widening Main Street sidewalks by eliminating or reducing parking. They both include construction of a sidewalk and parking lot on Railroad Avenue and expanding parking alongside the Creamery Pier.

Option 3 is to do nothing and leaves the downtown as it is with no MDOT improvements.

“We don’t want to be difficult but we do want to get a decision as far as which way to go,” Audibert told the audience.

Option 2, the most expensive one, is also the most controversial because it eliminates all parking on Main Street. This was a concern to antique dealer Richard Thompson and Treats owner Stacy Linehan and other downtown merchants. With no more parking on Main Street they worried customers would go elsewhere to shop. The loss of Main Street parking would also mean there’d be nowhere for delivery trucks to park.

“No one has talked to any of us about this. It would be nice if you would,” Thompson said.

Removing Main Street parking, Audibert explained, eliminated the problem of people backing up and causing traffic to stop. It also reduced accidents. Summer store deliveries could be scheduled when traffic was lighter either in the early morning or evening.

Audibert added MDOT recently met with business owners at a meeting hosted by the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce. “We could meet with downtown business as well,” he said.

To replace the lost parking from Option 2 MDOT has proposed razing the former CEI building on Water Street (Haggett’s Garage) and constructing a 29-space parking lot there. The state would also pave Railroad Avenue adding street parking and a parking lot with room for two tour buses. Other parking options were being explored on Middle Street behind Treats and at the Creamary Pier.

Several people likened MDOT’s proposals to a “beautification project” that would do little to keep summer traffic from backing up. Others said the only way to reduce traffic was to build a Route 1 bypass. A Newcastle man said Wiscasset doesn’t need a facelift, it needs bypass surgery.

Audibert said a bypass was no longer an option for Wiscasset due to the cost.

Sherri Dunbar, an active member of the chamber, said many people simply avoid Wiscasset in the summer because of the traffic. “Something needs to happen. My hope is that people will be open-minded about this.” Dunbar said other communities, Damariscotta, Bath, Brunswick and Freeport, have limited or no downtown parking. “That doesn’t keeps me from shopping there,” she said.

Sever Leslie said he wasn’t comfortable with MDOT’s “all or nothing approach.” He recommended the state consider introducing their changes in increments. “Maybe start by paving Railroad Avenue and putting in the parking there and not tear down the Haggett Garage,” Leslie suggested. “All or nothing is simply not a way to solve the traffic problem.”

Audibert acknowledged some of the details like the traffic signals, pedestrian crossing and sidewalk modifications would have to be implemented. The other amenities such as whether the sidewalks would be brick or stamped asphalt, park benches, lighting and signage have yet to be defined. MDOT would fund all reasonable costs associated with the project, he added.

He said MDOT proposed the two options because the funding was available. If the town opted to do nothing, the state would spend the monies elsewhere.