Dear Editor:

It’s been awhile since Wiscasset voters weighed in on Options 1, 2, and 3 in a non-binding opinion poll in June 2016 — Yes, I checked, it was called an opinion poll. That was way back when 80 percent of Option 2 was being paid for with federal dollars, back when a Federal Section 106 Review was going to protect our nationally recognized historic downtown, back when 20 spaces were promised at Creamery Wharf, and back when a Water Street parking lot was being built to compensate for the removal of 25 storefront parking spaces on Main Street.

By June 2017, so many things about Option 2 had changed that Wiscasset voters (and the select board) rejected those changes in a binding referendum.

Too much has happened since then to fit into the 350 words allowed here. Let’s just say that what MDOT is about to build in Wiscasset will be nothing like the Option 2 of your dreams, so let’s call it Option 4.

What’s different? Option 4 removes not 25 downtown parking spaces, but 52 (30 from Main and 22 from Water and Middle Streets). Option 4 has no Water Street parking lot. The closest parking lot will be at the top of Railroad Avenue where MDOT will pave the existing dirt lot to accommodate 34 cars and 2 buses, a far cry from the 52 spaces they’re taking away.

MDOT said they’d hold a final public meeting and sign a municipal/state agreement with the town before the project went to bid. That didn’t happen. Option 4 went to bid and on April 18, the bids, or more accurately, the bid was opened. The only bid came in $1.849 million over budget and that is without a key component of the original project, the Water Street parking lot.

What changes will MDOT make next? The state is in no position to fund a $5 million project let alone what could easily be a $7 million project. What parts of Option 4 will MDOT eliminate to bring costs in line? Don’t we deserve to know?

Kim Dolce

Wiscasset