SEARSPORT – “You can get there from here, chummy.”

That’s the message that humorist Tim Sample will be pushing in a series of radio ads scheduled to begin airing today – part of a Maine Department of Transportation effort to convince tourist traffic that it still can travel across the Waldo-Hancock Bridge.

The bridge, which spans the Penobscot River between the towns of Prospect and Verona, was posted on July 11, banning vehicles weighing more than 12 tons.

Business owners who rely on summer traffic for the bulk of their business have raised concerns that the information put out by the DOT, particularly on signs throughout the state, not only has diverted large, commercial vehicles away from the bridge, but also is discouraging tourists from using coastal Route 1.

Transportation Commissioner David Cole, along with a contingent of DOT representatives, met Wednesday at a local campground with about 70 business owners and regional tourism representatives to outline steps the department intends to take to respond to those concerns.

“We’re going to roll out some ideas today that, hopefully, will make the situation better for everyone,” Cole told the businesspeople.

The meeting was one of three being held in the area by the DOT to keep the public informed on developments involving the bridge. Construction crews continued removing concrete sidewalks from the bridge Wednesday in order to make the structure lighter, according to DOT officials. Maine State Police troopers also still are monitoring traffic on the bridge.

DOT has allocated $10,000 a week to run up to 90 radio spots on four radio stations, two in Portland and two regional stations. The new ads are designed to be creative and attention-getting, according to Greg Nadeau, who heads DOT’s Office of Policy and Communication.

“The message is that you can get there from here,” Nadeau said.

It will put to rest rumors that the bridge is closed to all traffic, he said, and “… in a clever way, will invite everyone to take the scenic route to Down East Maine.”

A number of business owners urged the department also to run the spots on radio stations in the area in an effort to alert travelers already in the region, and to ease concerns and provide accurate information to local residents.

Carl Eppig of Searsport, representing the Waldo County Marketing Association, noted that most tourists will get their information from the innkeepers, campground owners, clerks and shopkeepers they meet every day.

“There’s a level of fear among local people,” he said, noting that that is the message visitors to the area are going to get.

“You need to take out ads on every station between Rockland and Ellsworth,” he said. “You need to get the word out that it is safe to drive across that bridge.”

DOT spokeswoman Carol Morris noted that the department had targeted the southern area of the state because that’s where the tourist traffic is coming from. She said DOT certainly could adapt its advertising purchasesto include more local stations.

The department also will amend the signs it has posted in an effort to make it clear that the posting of the bridge applies to trucks, buses and very large RVs.

Nadeau unveiled a prototype of a bright, yellow sign with black letters reading “TRUCKS AND BUSES” that will be added on top of the orange detour signs already posted.

Business owners offered a number of suggestions, some noting that there were too many words on the signs for motorists to read. Some suggested adding the new yellow signs to the movable, electric warning signs.

One woman advocated the “Burma Shave” approach, suggesting the department use a series of signs that would be easier for motorists to read, reminiscent of the old shaving-cream advertising signs drivers used to see on the side of the road.

In an effort to improve communications between the department and area businesses and residents, the DOT has established a new Waldo-Hancock Bridge Web site that will be running by Monday.

According to Morris, this will be an interactive site in which people will be able to ask questions and get responses. Those questions and answers will be posted, she said, so that everyone can read them.

The site will be accessible through the DOT Web site at http://www.state.me.us/mdot/homepage.htm.

The department also has established a new toll-free number – (800) 588-MDOT – through which people can get up-to-date travel information.

Some people raised concerns that the department had not responded fast enough to business concerns, particularly given the short summer season. Others, however, praised the department’s response since the bridge was posted and indicated officials had responded “rapidly to a difficult situation.”

“We’ve got people working on this 24-7,” Cole said. “I don’t know how we could have moved any faster.”

Cole said he would be working with other state departments to assess the economic impact of the bridge posting on the region, to ensure that accurate information was available through state tourism agencies, and to determine if financial aid is needed to ease the impact on local business and make it available to them.