CARMEL — Residents living along Route 69 in this small rural town have always enjoyed the quiet, laid-back country life. Until recently, that is, when the peace of their world was shattered by logging crews.

Residents have revolted against loggers, bringing in the state police to uphold temporary posted weight limits on the road and putting a stop to the late-night noise made by skidder crews.

The results thus far have been a slew of headaches for all parties, including a few for innocent bystanders caught in the middle.

“This has turned into quite an ordeal,” said Selectman Randy Hawes.

Independent skidder and trucking crews have been clearing three separate, privately owned sites around town for the past month — one secluded site on Hinckley Hill Road, the other two adjacent to Route 69 near a number of homes.

Residents claim traffic from the 18-wheel log trucks and other heavy equipment have made the already bumpy, potholed, frost heave-laden section of Route 69 even worse.

The Department of Transportation’s highway division in Bangor even filed a complaint against the crew after Hinckley Hill Road had been torn up so badly, according to state Trooper Barry Curtis.

“They were taking a big track (bulldozer) down Route 69 for two miles, ripping up the road,” said Hawes. “I’m a professional driver and that’s quite ignorant. People don’t have a problem with what they are doing (workwise), but they have to show a little respect.”

Damage to the road was estimated at $9,700.

The section of Route 69 between Route 2 and I-95 is posted every year from Feb. 15 to May 15 to prevent vehicles weighing more than 23,000 pounds from using the road. Because of complaints about the trucks and skidders, however, state police have made a concerted effort to keep an eye on that section of the road.

“There were so many complaints coming in, day and night, that we were up there quite a bit,” Curtis said. “For the most part, (the crews) have worked with us, but there has been some grumbling back and forth.”

This month alone troopers have been sent to the area 11 times, Curtis added.

The increased patrols have also nabbed two area businesses for surpassing the posted limit, including a Ray’s Disposal Service trash truck and an HQ delivery truck.

“I’ve been picking up trash out there for 17 or 18 years,” said Ray Smith, owner of Ray’s Disposal. “That road is posted every year, but I’ve never had any trouble.”

On the day the trash truck was ticketed, the remainder of Carmel’s trash did not get picked up. That prompted another flood of calls from irate residents to the Carmel town office. Smith has since obtained a special permit from the DOT to drive the road and continue trash pickups.

The loggers, too, are caught in the middle of doing their job and keeping within the law.

“You might as well make do,” said Fairfield “Mickey” Wells of Dexter, who has two trucks at the site. “A half a loaf of bread is better than none at all.”

Under state law, the trucks are allowed to use the road if the temperature drops below freezing and any standing water on the road is frozen. Crews began working at night when the temperature dropped, but once again police were called because of the noise factor.

On two occasions, Curtis said, troopers shut down nighttime operations, once well after midnight.

As it stands, crews load up the trucks during the day and drivers wait until the wee hours of the morning to make one trip per day.

“All you can do is hope it’s below freezing,” said Wells. “If it’s 40 degrees out, I won’t be going. I can’t take the chance. (The police) are out there watching for us.”

The end result has been a slowed-down process of getting the job done, drivers said.

“We should have been out of here two weeks ago, if they had left us alone,” Wells said.

“We’ll be as happy to get out of here as they are to get rid of us,” added Florian “Bugs” Carlow of Guilford, perhaps summing it up best.